THE  LIBRARY 


THE  UNIVERSITY 


OF  CALIFORNIA 


LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 

JAMES   J.  IIC  BRIDE 


STORMING  OF  A   FEUDAL  CASTLE 


Frontispiece,  Scotland,  vol.  one. 


SCOTLAND 

BY 

SIR  WALTER  SCOTT,  BART. 

WITH  A  SUPPLEMENTARY  CHAPTER  OF  RECENT  EVENTS 

By  MAYO  W.  HAZELT1NE 


1LLUSTRA  TED 


VOLUME  I 


NEW  YORK 

PETER  FENELON  COLLIER  &  SON 

MCM  I 


OA 


v,  i 
ADVERTISEMENT 


THE  Author  was  invited  to  undertake  this  general 
Sketch  of  Scottish  History  in  connection  with  a  similar 
abridgment  of  English  History  by  Sir  James  Mackin- 
tosh, and  a  History  of  Ireland  by  Thomas  Moore,  Esquire. 
There  are  few  literary  persons  who  would  not  have  been 
willing  to  incur  much  labor  and  risk  of  reputation  for  the 
privilege  of  publishing  in  such  society.  On  the  present 
occasion,  the  task,  though  perhaps  still  a  rash  one,  was 
rendered  more  easy  by  the  Author  having  so  lately  been 
employed  on  the  volumes  called  Tales  of  a  Grandfather, 
transferred  from  the  History  of  Scotland,  for  the  benefit 
of  a  young  relation.  Yet  the  object  and  tenor  of  these 
two  works  are  extremely  different.  In  the  Tales  taken 
from  Scottish  history,  the  author,  throwing  into  the  shade, 
or  rather  omitting  all  that  could  embarrass  the  under- 
standing or  tire  the  attention  of  his  juvenile  reader,  was 
desirous  only  to  lay  before  him  what  was  best  adapted 
to  interest  his  imagination,  and,  confining  himself  to 
facts,  to  postpone  to  a  later  period  an  investigation  of 
the  principles  out  of  which  those  facts  arose. 

It  is  hoped,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  present  history 
may,  in  some  degree,  supply  to  the  reader  of  more  ad- 
vanced age  truths  with  which  he  ought  to  be  acquainted, 
not  merely  as  relating  to  one  small  kingdom,  but  as  form- 

(3) 

712514 


4  ADVERTISEMENT 

ing  a  chapter  in  the  general  history  of  man.  The  object 
of  the  two  works  being  so  different,  their  contents,  though 
drawn  from  the  same  sources,  will  be  found  so  distinct 
from  each  other,  that  the  young  student,  as  his  appetite 
for  knowledge  increases,  may  peruse  with  advantage  this 
graver  publication,  after  being  familiar  with  that  designed 
for  an  earlier  age;  and  the  adult,  familiar  with  the  gen- 
eral facts  of  Scottish  history,  as  far  as  conveyed  in  these 
volumes,  may  yet  find  pleasure  in  reading  those  Tales 
which  contain  its  more  light  and  fanciful  details. 

Abbotsford,        ) 
November  1,  1820.  \ 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Early  History  of  Scotland — Caledonians,  Picts,  and  Scots — 
Kenneth  Macalpine 18 

CHAPTER  II 

Kenneth  Macalpine:  his  Successors — Malcolm  I.  obtains  possession 
of  Cumberland:  Successors  of  Malcolm — Kenneth  III.,  and  his 
Successors — Malcolm  II. 25 

CHAPTER   III 

Malcolm  ILL,  called  Cean-mohr — Foreigners  seek  Refuge  in  Scot- 
land: kindly  received  by  the  King  and  by  his  Wife — The  King's 
Affection  for  Margaret — Death  of  Malcolm  and  Margaret — 
Donald  Bane — Duncan — Edgar — Alexander  I. — David  L — Bat- 
tle of  Northallerton — David's  Death — His  Beneficence  to  the 
Church — His  Character  as  a  Sovereign 83 

CHAPTER  IV 

Malcolm  IV. — William  the  Lion:  his  Captivity — Treaty  of  Falaise: 
Abrogated  by  Richard  I. — Death  and  Character  of  William — 
Alexander  II. :  his  Death 48 

CHAPTER   V 

Reign  of  Alexander  III.:  his  Death — On  the  Race  of  Kings  Succeed- 
ing to  Kenneth  Macalpine — Nature  of  their  Government  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  the  Celts— Grand  Division  of  Scotland 
into  Celtic  and  Gothic;  and  its  Consequences 59 

CHAPTER  VI 

Schemes  of  Edward  I. — Death  of  the  Maid  of  Norway — John  Baliol: 
his  War  with  England;  and  his  Defeat  at  Dunbar,  and  De- 
thronement   74 

(5) 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VII 

Interregnum — Causes  of  the  National  Misfortunes  of  Scotland — In- 
difference of  the  Norman  Barons — Sir  William  Wallace — Battle 
of  Stirling — Wallace  chosen  Governor  of  Scotland — Edward 
invades  Scotland — Battle  of  Falkirk — Death  of  Wallace  ...  83 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Bruce,  Earl  of  Carrick — His  early  Life — His  Claims  to  the  Throne — 
His  Plot  with  Comyn — Death  of  Comyn — Bruce  assumes  the 
Crown — Battle  of  Methven  Park — Extremities  to  which  Bruce 
is  reduced — He  flies  to  Rachrin — Fate  of  his  Adherents  ...  96 

CHAPTER   IX 

Bruce  returns  to  Scotland,  lands  in  Arran,  and  passes  from  thence 
to  Ayrshire — Success  of  his  Adherent  James  Douglas — Capture 
and  Execution  of  Bruce's  Brothers,  Thomas  and  Alexander — 
The  English  evacuate  Ayrshire — Bruce's  reputation  increases — 
Edward  I.  marches  against  him,  but  dies  in  sight  of  Scotland — 
Edward  II. 's  vacillating  Measures — Bruce  in  the  North  of  Scot- 
land: defeats  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  and  ravages  his  Country — 
His  further  Successes — Defeat  of  Jhe  Lord  of  Lorn  at  Crua- 
chan-ben — Feeble  and  irresolute  Conduct  of  Edward  contrasted 
with  the  Firmness  of  Bruce  and  the  Scottish  Clergy  and  People 
— Inefficient  Attempt  of  Edward  to  invade  Scotland — Bruce 
ravages  the  English  Borders:  takes  Perth — Roxburgh  Castle 
surprised  by  Douglas,  Edinburgh  by  Randolph,  Linlithgow  by 
Binnock — The  Isle  of  Man  subdued  by  Bruce — The  Governor  of 
Stirling  agrees  to  surrender  the  Place  if  not  relieved  before 
Midsummer — Bruce  is  displeased  with  his  Brother  Edward  for 
accepting  these  Terms,  yet  resolves  to  abide  by  them — King 
Edward  makes  formidable  Preparations  to  relieve  Stirling  .  .  Ill 

CHAPTER   X 

Preparations  of  Robert  Bruce  for  a  decisive  Engagement — Precau- 
tions adopted  by  him  against  the  Superiority  of  the  English  in 
Cavalry:  against  their  Archery:  against  their  Superiority  of 
Numbers — He  summons  his  Army  together — Description  of  the 
Field  of  Battle,  and  of  the  Scottish  Order  of  Battle— The  English 
Vanguard  comes  in  Sight — Action  between  Clifford  and  the 
Earl  of  Moray — Chivalrous  Conduct  of  Douglas — Bruce  kills 
Sir  Henry  Bohun — Appearance  of  the  English  Arm}'  on  the 
ensuing  Morning — Circumstances  preliminary  to  the  Battle — 
The  English  begin  the  Attack — Their  Archers  are  dispersed  by 
Cavalry  kept  in  Reserve  for  that  Purpose — The  English  fall  into 
disorder — Bruce  attacks  with  the  Reserve — The  Camp  Fol- 
lowers appear  on  the  Field  of  Battle — The  English  fall  into 
irretrievable  Confusion,  and  fly — Great  Slaughter — Death  of 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester — King  Edward  leaves  the  Field — Death 
of  De  Argentine — Flight  of  the  King  to  Dunbar — Prisoners 


CONTENTS  7 

and  Spoil — Scottish  Loss — Scots  unable  to  derive  a  Lesson  in 
Strategy  from  the  Battle  of  Bannockburn;  but  supported  by 
the  Remembrance  of  that  great  Success  during  the  succeeding 
Extremities  of  their  History 126 

CHAPTER  XI 

Consequences  of  the  Victory  of  Bannockburn — Depression  of  the 
Military  Spirit  of  England — Ravages  on  the  Border — Settlement 
of  the  Scottish  Crown — Marriage  of  the  Princess  Marjory  with 
the  Steward  of  Scotland — Edward  Bruce  invades  Ireland:  his 
Success:  is  defeated  and  slain  at  the  Battle  of  Dundalk — Battle 
of  Linthaughlee:  Douglas  defeats  Sir  Edmund  Caillou,  and  Sir 
Robert  Neville — Invasion  of  Fife,  and  Gallantry  of  the  Bishop 
of  Dunkeld — Embassy  from  the  Pope:  the  Cardinals  who  bear  it 
are  stripped  upon  the  'Borders:  Bruce  refuses  to  receive  their 
Letters — Father  Newton's  Mission  to  Bruce,  which  totally  fails 
— Berwick  surprised  by  the  Scots,  and  besieged  by  the  English: 
relieved  by  Robert  Bruce — Battle  of  Mitton — Truce  of  Two 
Years — Succession  of  the  Crown  further  regulated — Assize  of 
Arms — Disputes  with  the  Pope — Letter  of  the  Scottish  Barons 
to  John  XXII. — Conspiracy  of  William  de  Soulis — Black  Par- 
liament— Execution  of  David  de  Brechin 139 

CHAPTER  XII 

Preparations  of  Edward  to  invade  Scotland — Incursions  of  the  Scots 
into  Lancashire — The  English  enter  Scotland — Robert  Bruce 
lays  waste  the  Country,  and  avoids  Battle — The  English  are 
obliged  to  Retreat — Robert  invades  England  in  turn — Defeats 
the  King  of  England  at  Biland  Abbey — Treason  and  Execution 
of  Sir  Andrew  Hartcla — Truce  for  Thirteen  Years — Randolph's 
Negotiation  with  the  Pope — Settlement  of  the  Crown  of  Scot- 
land— Deposition  of  Edward  II. — Robert  determines  to  break 
the  Truce  under  Charges  of  Infraction  by  England-^E«lward 
III.  assembles  his  Army  at  York,  with  a  formidable  Body  of 
Auxiliaries — Douglas  and  Randolph  advance  into  Northumber- 
land at  the  Head  of  a  light-armed  Army — Edward  marches  as 
far  as  the  Tyne  without  being  able  to  find  the  Scots — A  Reward 
published  to  whomsoever  should  bring  Tidings  of  their  Motions 
— It  is  claimed  by  Thomas  of  Rokeby— The  Scots  are  found  in 
an  inaccessible  Position,  and  they  refuse  Battle — The  Scots  shift 
their  Encampment  to  Stanhope  Park — Douglas  attacks  the 
English  by  Nisrht — The  Scots  retreat,  and  the  English  Army  is 
dismissed — The  Scots  suddenly  again  invade  England — A  Pacifi- 
cation takes  place:  its  particular  Articles — Illness  and  Death  of 
Bruce — Thoughts  on  his  Life  and  Character — Effects  produced 
on  the  Character  of  the  Scots  during  his  Reign 168 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Douglas  sets  out  on  his  Pilgrimage  with  the  Bruce's  Heart:  is  killed 
in  Spain — Randolph  assumes  the  Regency — Claims  of  the  dis- 


b  CONTENTS 

inherited  English  Barons:  they  resolve  to  invade  Scotland,  and 
are  headed  by  Edward  Baliol — Death  of  Randolph — Earl  of  Mar 
chosen  Regent — Battle  of  Dupplin  Moor — Earl  of  March  re- 
treats from  before  Perth — Edward  Baliol  is  chosen  King,  but 
instantly  expelled— Sir  Andrew  Moray  chosen  Regent  by  the 
Royalists,  but  is  made  Prisoner — Siege  of  Berwick  by  the  Eng- 
lish—Battle of  Halidon  Hill— Great  Loss  of  the  Scots— The 
Loyalists  only  hold  four  Castles  in  Scotland — Edward  Baliol 
cedes  to  England  the  southern  Parts  of  Scotland — Quarrel 
among  the  Anglo-Scottish  Barons — Liberation  of  Sir  Andrew 
Moray — Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  and  the  Stewart  are  Regents 
— The  Loyalists  are  active  and  successful — Defence  of  Lochleven 
— Defeat  of  Guy,  Earl  of  Namur,  on  the  Borough  Moor — Earl  of 
Athol  (David  de  Strathbogie)  defeated  and  slain 186 

CHAPTER  XIV 

King  David's  Character — Invasion  of  England — Battle  of  Durham 
— The  Border  Counties  are  conquered — The  Steward  defends  the 
Country  beyond  the  Forth;  and  Douglas  recovers  Ettricke 
Forest  and  Teviotdale — A  Truce  with  England — David  II.  rec- 
ognizes the  Supremacy  of  Edward;  but  his  Subjects  refuse  to 
do  so — The  Knight  of  Liddisdale  seduced  from  his  Allegiance: 
slain  by  his  Godson,  Lord  Douglas — Treaty  for  the  King's  Ran- 
som is  broken  off  by  the  Interference  of  France — Battle  of 
Nesbit  Moor — Attempt  on  Berwick,  which  is  relieved  by  Ed- 
ward III. — He  invades  Scotland — The  Burnt  Candlemas — The  , 
English  are  compelled  to  Retreat — King  David  is  released  from 
Captivity — His  petulant  Temper — His  repeated  Visits  to  Eng- 
land, and  the  Influence  acquired  over  him  by  Edward — He 
proposes  that  the  Succession  of  Scotland  should  go  to  Edward's 
Son  Lionel — The  Scottish  Parliament  reject  the  Proposal — In- 
surrection of  the  Steward  and  other  Nobles:  it  is  subdued,  and 
Tranquillity  restored — New  Scheme  of  Edward  and  David, 
which  is  laid  aside  as  impracticable — David  II.  marries 
Catherine  Logie,  a  beautiful  Plebeian — Treaty  of  Peace  inter- 
rupted by  Difficulties  about  the  King's  Ransom,  which  are 
finalty  removed — Divorce  between  David  and  his  Queen — Death 
of  David  II. — His  Character — State  of  Scotland  during  his 
Reign 21$ 

CHAPTER  XV 

Accession  of  the  House  of  Stewart:  their  Origin — Robert  n.  and 
his  Family — Claim  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas:  it  is  abandoned- 
Defeat  of  the  English  near  Mel  rose — Wasteful  Incursions  on  the 
Border — John  of  Gaunt  negotiates  with  Scotland:  takes  Ref- 
uge there  against  the  English  Rioters — France  instigates  the 
Scots  to  renew  the  War — Inroad  by  John  of  Gaunt—John  de 
Vienne  arrives  with  an  Army  of  French  Auxiliaries — They  are 
dissatisfied  with  Scotland,  and  the  Scots  with  them— They 
urge  the  Scots  to  fight  a  pitched  Battle  with  the  English — The 
Scots  decline  doing  so,  and  explain  their  Motives — Invasion  of 
Richard:  it  is  paid  back  by  the  Scots — The  French  Auxiliaries 


CONTENTS  9 

leave  Scotland — The  Scots  menace  England  with  Invasion — 
The  Battle  of  Otterbourne— Robert,  Earl  of  Fife,  Regent— Truce 
with  England— Robert  II.  dies 237 

CHAPTER  XVI 

Accession  of  John,  Earl  of  Carrick — His  Name  is  changed  to  Robert 
III. — The  State  of  his  Family — Feuds — Burning  of  Elgin — In- 
road of  the  Highlanders,  and  Conflict  of  Glascune — Battle  of 
Bourtree  Church — Combat  of  the  Clan  Chattan  and  Clan  Quhele 
— Prince  David  of  Scotland:  created  Duke  of  Rothsay:  exposed 
to  the  Misrepresentations  of  his  Uncle,  who  becomes  Duke  of 
Albany — Marriage  of  Rothsay— Scandalous  Management  of 
Albany:,  breaks  Faith  with  the  Earl  of  March,  who  rebels — 
War  with  England — Invasion  of  Henry  IV. — The  English 
obliged  to  retire — Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Rothsay— Scots  de- 
feated at  Homildon — Contest  between  Henry  Iv.  and  the 
Percies — Siege  of  Coklawis  or  Ormiston — Prince  James  sent 
to  France,  but  taken  by  the  English — Robert  III.'s  Death  .  .  347 

CHAPTER   XVII 

Regency  of  Robert,  Duke  of  Albany — Earl  of  March  returns  to  his 
Allegiance — A  Heretic  burned — Jedburgh  Castle  taken:  Tax 
proposed  for  Expense  of  its  Demolition:  the  Duke  of  Albany 
refuses  to  consent  to  it — Donald  of  the  Isles  claims  the  Earldom 
of  Ross — He  invades  the  Mainland — The  Earl  of  Mar  opposes 
him — Circumstances  of  the  Earl's  Life — Battle  of  the  Harlaw: 
its  Consequences — Intricate  Negotiation  between  Albany  and 
Henry  IV. — Hostilities  with  England — Death  of  the  Regent 
Albany 260 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

Duke  Murdach's  Regency — His  Character — A  Pestilence  in  Britain 
— The  Conduct  of  the  Regent's  Family — Treaty  for  the  Libera- 
tion of  James  I. — He  is  restored  to  his  Kingdom — Scottish 
Auxiliaries  in  France — Character  of  James  I. — Execution  of 
Duke  Murdach  and  his  Friends — Disorders  in  the  Highlands 
repressed — League  with  France,  and  Contract  of  the  Scottish 
Princess  with  the  Dauphin — War  with  the  Lord  of  the  Isles, 
and  his  Submission — Acts  of  the  Legislature — Donald  Balloch 
— Treaty  with  England — Proceedings  toward  the  Earl  of  March 
— War  with  England — Parliament  of  1436— Conspiracy  against 
James — He  is  Murdered — Fate  of  the  Regicides 278 

CHAPTER  XIX 

Struggle  between  the  Nobles  and  the  Crown — Elevation  of  Crichton 
and  Livingston  to  the  Government — Their  Dissensions — Crich- 
ton possesses  himself  of  the  King's  Person;  but  by  a  Stratagem 


10  CONTENTS 

of  the  Queen  he  is  conveyed  to  Stirling — Crichton  is  besieged  in 
Edinburgh  Castle;  reconciles  himself  with  Livingston;  quarrels 
once  more  with  him;  and  again  obtains  the  Custody  of  the 
King's  Person — A  second  Reconciliation — Power  of  the  Douglas 
Family — Trial  and  Execution  of  the  young  Earl  of  Douglas  and 
his  Brother — Highland  Feuds — Douglas  gains  the  Ascendency 
in  the  King's  Councils — Fall  of  the  Livingstons — Feud  of  the 
Earl  of  Crawford  and  the  Ogilvies — Death  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager — War  with  England — Battle  of  Sark — Marriage  of 
James — His  Quarrel  with  Douglas:  he  puts  him  to  Death  with 
his  own  Hand — Great  Civil  War — The  Douglas  Family  is  de- 
stroyed— War  with  England — Siege  of  Roxburgh  Castle,  and 
Death  of  James  II 295 


CHAPTER    XX 

Roxburgh  is  taken — Administration  during  James's  Minority — He 
assumes  the  Royal  Authority,  by  Advice  of  the  Boyds — The 
younger  Boyd  is  created  Earl  of  Arran,  and  married  to  the 
King's  Sister — He  negotiates  a  Marriage  between  the  King  and 
a  Princess  of  Denmark,  and  obtains  the  Orkney  and  Zetland 
Islands  in  security  of  the  Dowry:  is  disgraced,  and  dies  in 
obscurity — Treaty  of  Marriage  between  the  Prince  of  Scotland 
and  a  Daughter  of  England,  and  its  Conditions:  broken  off  by 
Edward  IV. — Submission  of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles— Character  of 
James  III. — His  favorite  Pursuits — His  Disposition  to  Favor- 
itism— Character  of  Albany  and  Mar,  the  King's  Brothers — 
The  King  imprisons  them  on  suspicion — Albany  escapes — Mar 
is  murdered — War  with  England — Conspiracy  of  Lander — The 
King's  Favorite  seized  and  executed — Intrigues  of  Albany — He 
is  received  into  his  Brother's  Favor;  but  is  afterward  again 
banished — Peace  with  England — The  King  gives  way  to  his 
Taste  for  Music  and  Building — Conspiracy  of  the  Southern 
Nobles— Battle  of  Sauchie  Burn,  and  the  King's  Murder  .  .  .  830 

CHAPTER  XXI 

Policy  of  the  Victors  after  the  Battle  of  Sauchie  Burn — Trial  of 
Lord  landesay — He  is  defended  by  his  Brother,  and  acquitted — 
Exploits  of  Sir  Andrew  Wood — Peaceful  Disposition  of  Henry 
VII. — Prosperity  of  Scotland — Short  War  with  England  in 
behalf  of  Perkin  Warbeck — Progress  of  the  Scots  in  Learning 
and  Literature — James  IV.'s  splendid  Court — Marriage  between 
him  and  Margaret  of  England — Peace  between  Scotland  and 
England — Final  Forfeiture  of  the  Lordship  of  the  Isles — Meas- 
ures to  promote  public  Improvement — Naval  Affairs — James 
builds  the  largest  Ship  in  Europe — Affair  of  the  Bartons — Mur- 
der of  Sir  Robert  Kerr,  and  its  Consequences — Intrigues  of 
France  to  stir  up  James  against  England — Manifesto  of  James, 
and  Henry's  Answer— James  assembles  the  Array  of  his  King- 
dom— Omens  of  Misfortune — James  invades  England,  but  loses 
Time  in  Northumberland,  and  differs  with  his  Council — Battle 
of  Flodden,  and  Defeat  and  Death  of  James  IV 848 


CONTENTS  11 

CHAPTER  XXII 

Proclamation  of  the  temporary  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  -Mod- 
erate Conduct  of  the  English — Convention  of  Estates — Duke  of 
Albany  proposed  for  Regent — Marriage  of  the  Queen-Dowager 
with  the  Earl  of  Angus — He  attempts  to  get  the  Regency  in 
Right  of  his  Wife;  but  Albany  is  preferred — His  Character — 
Angus  and  the  Queen-Mother  fly  to  England — Albany  is  un- 
popular— Trial  and  Execution  of  Lord  Home — Albany  returns  to 
France — Murder  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Bastie — Feuds  between  the 
Hamiltons  and  Douglases — Skirmish  called  Cleanse  the  Cause- 
way— Albany  returns  from  France,  and  reassumes  the  Govern- 
ment: makes  an  inefficient  Attempt  to  invade  England,  and 
again  retires  to  France — Surrey  takes  Jed  burgh — Albany  returns 
for  the  third  Time  to  Scotland:  besieges  Wark — Upon  this  Siege 
being  shamefully  raised,  he  returns,  dismisses  his  Army,  and 
leaves  Scotland  forever — Intrigues  of  Henry  VIII.  among  the 
Scottish  Nobility — Queen  Margaret  once  more  raised  to  Power 
— King  James  assumes  the  Government  under  her  Guardian- 
ship— Her  Aversion  to  her  Husband  Angus,  and  her  imprudent 
Affection  for  Lord  Methven — Angus  returns  and  attains  the 
supreme  Power — Becomes  tyrannical  in  his  Administration — 
Battle  of  Melrose — Battle  of 'Kirkliston — Supreme  Sway  of  the 
Douglases — Escape  of  the  King  from  Falkland — The  Douglases 

1  are  banished  the  Royal  Presence,  and  compelled  to  fly  into  Eng- 
land— Comparison  between  the  Fall  of  the  House  of  Angus  and 
that  of  the  elder  Branch  of  the  Douglas  Family 374 

CHAPTER   XXIII 

James  V.  chastises  the  Borders — Introduces  Cultivation  and  good 
Order — Institutes  the  College  of  Justice — Short  War  with  Eng- 
land— Friendship  restored — James  temporizes  with  Henry — 
Marries  Magdalen  of  France — Her  early  Death — James  weds 
Mary  of  Guise — Sentence  of  Lady  Glamis — Burning  of  several 
Heretics— Sadler's  Embassy — James's  wise  Government — His 
Faults — He  is  of  a  severe  Temper,  and  addicted  to  Favoritism — 
His  Expedition  to  the  Scottish  Isles — Character  of  Sir  James 
Hamilton  of  Draphane,  and  his  Execution — Death  of  the  two 
infant  Sons  of  James — Considered  as  Ominous — Severe  Laws 
against  Heresy— Critical  Position  of  James  on  the  approaching 
War  between  France  and  England — He  offends  Henry  by  dis- 
appointing him  at  the  proposed  Interview — War  with  England 
— Battle  of  Haddon  Rig — The' Scottish  Nobles  at  Fala  Muir  re- 
fuse to  advance  with  the  King — Incursion  on  the  West  Border 
—Rout  of  Solway  Moss — James  V.  dies  of  a  Broken  Heart  .  .  393 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

Proposed  Marriage  between  Mary  of  Scotland  and  Edward,  Prince 
of  Wales — The  Earl  of  A  rran  Regent — An  English  Party  formed 
— Henry  VIII.'s  Demands — Successful  Intrigues  of  Cardinal 
Beaton — The  Treaty  with  England  broken — Incursions  of  the 


12  CONTENTS 

English — Battle  of  Ancram  Moor — Martyrdom  of  Wisheart — 
Murder  of  Cardinal  Beaton — Battle  of  Pinkie — Treaty  of  Mar- 
riage between  Mary  and  the  Dauphin  of  France — She  is  sent 
over  into  France — Arran  is  induced  to  resign  the  Government, 
and  the  Queen-Mother  is  declared  Regent — Peace  with  England 
—The  Queen-Regent's  Partiality  for  France — Her  Dissensions 
with  the  Scottish  Nobles — Her  Proposal  for  a  standing  Army  is 
rejected — Progress  of  the  Protestant  Doctrines — Hamilton, 
Archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's — Claim  of  Queen  Mary  to  the 
Crown  of  England — Bold  Answer  of  the  Protestants  to  a  Cita- 
tion of  the  Queen-Regent — Death  of  five  Commissioners  sent  to 
France — The  Queen-Regent  resolves  to  subdue  the  Protestants, 
who  take  Arms — Treaties  of  Accommodation  are  repeatedly 
broken — The  Reformers  destroy  the  Monastic  Buildings — The 
Treaty  of  Perth  violated,  and  the  Protestants  take  Arms — They 
advance  to  Edinburgh — The  Queen-Regent  fortifies  Leith — The 
Lords  of  the  Congregation  promulgate  a  Resolution  that  she 
has  forfeited  her  Office  of  Regent 407 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


SCOTLAND 

VOL.  I. 

Frontispieces-Storming  of  a  Feudal  Castle      .  . 

Bird's-eye  View  of  the  City  of  Edinburgh  from  Caton  Hill. 
Mary  Stuart  and  Francis  II.  ...•••• 
Landing  of  the  Pretender  in  Scotland  .  •  .  . 


HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Early  History  of  Scotland — Caledonians,  Rets,  and  Scots — 
Kenneth  Macalpine 

THE  history  of  Scotland,  though  that  of  a  country  too 
poor  and  too  thinly  peopled  to  rank  among  the  higher 
powers  of  Europe,  has,  nevertheless,  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  world,  even  in  preference  to  the  chronicles 
of  more  powerful  and  opulent  states.  This  may  be  justly 
ascribed  to  the  extreme  valor  and  firmness  with  which  in 
ancient  times  the  inhabitants  defended  their  independence 
against  the  most  formidable  odds,  as  well  as  to  the  rela- 
tion which  its  events  bear  to  the  history  of  England,  of 
which  kingdom,  having  been  long  the  hereditary  and  in- 
veterate foe,  North  Britain  is  now  become  an  integral  and 
inseparable  part  by  the  treaty  of  union. 

Our  limits  oblige  us  to  treat  this  interesting  subject  more 
concisely  than  we  could  wish ;  and  we  are  of  course  under 
the  necessity  of  rejecting  many  details  which  engage  the  at- 
tention and  fascinate  the  imagination.  We  will  endeavor, 
notwithstanding,  to  leave  nothing  untold  which  may  be  nec- 
essary to  trace  a  clear  idea  of  the  general  course  of  events. 
The  history  of  every  modern  European  nation  must  com- 
mence with  the  decay  of  the  Roman  empire.  From  the  dis- 
solution of  that  immense  leviathan  almost  innumerable  states 
took  their  rise,  as  the  decay  of  animal  matter  only  changes 
the  form,  without  diminishing  the  sum,  of  animal  life.  The 
ambition  of  that  extraordinary  people  was  to  stretch  the  au- 
thority of  Rome,  whether  under  the  republic  or  empire,  over 
the  whole  world;  and  even  while  then*  own  constitution 

(13) 


14  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

struggled  under  the  influence  of  a  rapid  decline,  the  rage 
with  which  they  labored  to  reduce  to  their  yoke  those  who 
yet  remained  unconquered  of  their  unhappy  neighbors  was 
manifested  on  the  most  distant  points  of  their  enormous  ter- 
ritory. 

Julius  Caesar  had  commenced  the  conquest  of  Britain, 
whose  insular  situation,  girdled  by  a  tempestuous  ocean, 
was  no  protection  against  Roman  ambition.  It  was  in  the 
year  B.C.  55  that  the  renowned  conqueror  niade  his  descent; 
and  the  southern  Britons  were  completely  subjected  to  the 
yoke  of  Rome,  and  reduced  to  the  condition  of  colonists,  in 
the  year  of  grace  80,  by  the  victorious  arms  of  Agricola. 

This  intelligent  chief  discovered,  what  had  been  before 
suspected,  that  the  fine  country,  the  southern  part  of  which 
he  had  thus  conquered,  was  an  island,  whose  northern  ex- 
tremity, rough  with  mountains,  woods,  and  inaccessible 
morasses,  and  peopled  by  tribes  of  barbarians  who  chiefly 
subsisted  by  the  chase,  was  washed  by  the  northern  ocean. 
To  hear  of  a  free  people  in  his  neighborhood,  and  to  take 
steps  for  their  instant  subjugation,  was  the  principle  on 
which  every  Roman  general  acted;  and  it  was  powerfully 
felt  by  Julius  Agricola,  father-in-law  of  the  historian  Taci- 
tus, who  at  this  time  commanded  in  South  Britain.  But 
many  a  fair  and  fertile  region,  of  much  more  considerable 
extent,  had  the  victors  of  the  world  subdued  with  far  more 
speed  and  less  loss  than  this  rugged  portion  of. the  north 
was  to  cost  them. 

It  was  in  the  year  80  when  Agricola  set  out  from  Man- 
chester, then  called  Mancunium ;  and  that  and  the  next  sea- 
son of  81  were  spent  in  subduing  the  tribes  of  the  southern 
parts  of  what  is  now  termed  Scotland,  and  in  forcing  such 
natives  as  resisted  across  the  estuaries  of  the  Forth  and  the 
Clyde,  driving  them,  as  it  were,  into  another  island.  It  was 
not  till  83  that  the  invaders  could  venture  across  the  Firth 
of  Forth,  and  engage  themselves  among  the  marshes,  lakes, 
and  forests  near  Lochleven.  Here  Agricola,  having  divided 
his  troops  into  three  bodies,  one  of  them,  consisting  of  the 


15 

ninth  legion,  was  so  suddenly  attacked  by  the  natives  at  a 
place  called  Loch  Ore,  that  the  Romans  suffered  much  loss, 
and  were  only  rescued  by  a  forced  march  of  Agricola  to  their 
support.  In  the  summer  of  84,  Agricola  passed  northward, 
having  now  reached  the  country  of  the  Caledonians,  or  Men 
of  the  "Woods,  a  fierce  nation,  or  rather  a  confederacy  of 
clans,  toward  whose  country  all  such  southern  tribes  and 
individuals  as  preferred  death  to  servitude  had  retired  be- 
fore the  progress  of  the  invaders.  The  Caledonians  and 
their  allies,  commanded  by  a  chief  whom  the  Romans  called 
Galgacus,  faced  the  invaders  bravely,  and  fought  them  man- 
fully at  a  spot  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Grampian  hills,  but 
antiquaries  are  not  agreed  upon  the  precise  field  of  action. 
The  Romans  gamed  the  battle,  but  with  so  much  loss  that 
Agricola  was  compelled  to  postpone  further  operations  by 
land,  and  he  retreated  to  make  sure  of  the  territories  he  had 
overrun.  The  fleet  sailed  round  the  north  of  Scotland,  and 
Agricola's  campaigns  terminated  with  this  voyage  of  dis- 
covery. There  was  no  prosecution  of  the  war  against  the 
Caledonians  after  the  departure  of  Agricola  in  85.  Much 
was,  however,  done  for  securing  at  least  the  southern  part 
of  that  general's  conquests;  and  it  was  then,  doubtless,  that 
were  planned  and  executed  those  numerous  forts,  those  ex- 
tensive roads,  those  commanding  stations,  which  astonish 
the  antiquary  to  this  day,  when,  reflecting  how  poor  the 
country  is  even  now,  he  considers  how  intense  must  have 
been  the  love  of  power,  how  excessive  the  national  pride, 
which  could  induce  the  Romans  to  secure  at  an  expense  of 
so  much  labor  these  wild  districts  of  mountain,  moor,  thicket, 
and  marsh. 

Nor,  after  all,  were  these  conquests  secured.  The  Em- 
peror Adrian,  in  120,  was  contented  virtually  to  admit  this 
fact,  by  constructing  an  external  line  of  defence  against  the 
fierce  Caledonians,  in  form  of  a  strong  wall,  reaching  across 
the  island  from  the  Tine  to  the  Solway,  far  within  the  boun- 
dary of  Agricola's  conquest.  It  is  at  the  same  time  to  be  sup- 
posed that  the  Romans  of  the  second  century  retained  in  a 


16  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

great  measure  the  military  possession  of  the  country  beyond 
this  first  wall,  as  far,  perhaps,  as  the  Firths  of  Clyde  and 
Forth;  while,  on  the  further  side  of  these  estuaries,  it 
seems  probable  they  did  not  exercise  a  regular  or  perma- 
nent authority. 

But  in  the  reign  of  Antonine,  another  and  more  north- 
ern boundary  wall  was  extended  across  the  island,  reaching 
from  Carriden,  close  to  Linlithgow  on  the  Firth  of  Forth,  to 
the  Firth  of  Clyde.  This  ultimate  bulwark  served  to  protect 
the  country  betwixt  the  estuaries,  while  the  regions  beyond 
them  were  virtually  resigned  to  their  native  and  independent 
proprietors.  Thus  the  Romans  had  two  walls;  the  more 
northern,  an  exterior  defence,  assisted  by  military  commu- 
nications and  defences,  to  receive  a  first  attack;  and  the 
more  southern,  an  internal  boundary,  to  retreat  upon,  if 
necessary. 

The  existence  of  a  double  line  of  defence  seems  to  argue 
that  this  powerful  people  did  not  hold  any  permanent 
possessions  beyond  the  more  northern  boundary  about  the 
year  140,  when  the  second  and  more  advanced  rampart 
was  completed.  No  doubt,  however,  can  be  entertained, 
even  if  the  fact  were  not  proved  by  roads  and  military  sta- 
tions, that  the  Romans  restrained  and  overawed,  if  they 
could  not  absolutely  subject,  the  considerable  provinces 
overrun  by  Agricola  in  Fife  and  the  western  districts  be- 
yond the  wall  of  Antonine.  Camelodunum,  or  Camelon,  a 
large  and  strong  town,  was  placed  near  Falkirk  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  wall  at  its  eastern  extremity,  and  many  Roman 
forts  are  found  so  disposed  as  to  block  up  the  passes  from 
the  Highlands.  The  existence  and  position  of  military  roads 
and  forts  or  camps  also  shows  the  care  taken  by  the  Romans 
to  maintain  the  necessary  communications  at  various  points 
betwixt  the  two  walls,  so  that  the  troops  stationed  to  guard 
them  might  act  with  combined  movements. 

Notwithstanding  these  martial  precautions,  the  strength 
of  the  Roman  empire  failed  to  support  her  ambitious  preten- 
sions to  sovereignty;  and,  A.D.  170,  the  Romans,  abandon- 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  17 

ing  the  more  northern  wall  of  Antonine,  retired  behind  that 
erected  under  the  auspices  of  the  Emperor  Adrian  in  120. 
They  doubtless  retained  possession  of  such  forts  and  sta- 
tions, of  which  there  were  many,  as  served  the  purpose  of 
outworks  to  protect  the  southern  rampart. 

Under  this  enlargement  of  then:  territories,  and  awed  by 
the  Roman  eagles,  the  Caledonians  remained  quiet  till  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century,  when,  in  the  year  207,  open 
war  again  broke  out  betwixt  them  and  the  Romans.  In  208 
the  Emperor  Severus  undertook  in  person  the  final  conquest 
of  the  Caledonians.  It  would  be  difficult  to  assign  a  reason 
why,  in  the  uncertain  state  of  the  empire,  a  prince  equally 
politic  and  cautious,  raised  by  his  talents  from  the  command 
of  the  Pannonian  army  to  the  lofty  rank  of  emperor,  should, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  threescore,  commit  his  person  and  a 
powerful  host,  the  flower  of  his  forces,  to  the  risks  of  a  dis- 
tant contest  with  savage  tribes,  where  victory,  it  might  be 
thought,  could  achieve  little  honor,  and  defeat  or  failure 
must  have  been  ruin  to  that  reputation  which  constituted 
his  recognized  title  to  empire.  Severus  was,  however,  tor- 
tured in  mind  by  the  dissensions  between  his  sons  Geta  and 
Caracalla,  and  hastened,  with  the  precipitation  of  a  soldier 
born  and  bred,  to  drown  domestic  vexation  amid  the  din  of 
war.  A  Scotsman  may  also  argue  that  the  subjugation  of 
Caledonia  was  an  object  of  no  small  difficulty  and  impor- 
tance, since  in  such  circumstances  so  wise  a  prince  would 
intrust  to  no  delegate  the  honor  which  might  be  won  in  the 
struggle,  or  the  command  of  the  powerful  force  necessary 
to  obtain  it. 

The  Roman  emperor  made  his  invasion  of  Caledonia  at 
the  head  of  a  very  numerous  army.  He  cut  down  forests, 
made  roads  through  marshes  and  over  mountains,  and  en- 
deavored to  secure  the  districts  which  he  overran.  But  the 
Caledonians,  while  they  shunned  a  general  action,  carried 
on,  with  the  best  policy  of  a  country  assailed  by  a  superior 
force,  a  destructive  warfare  on  the  flanks  and  rear  of  the 
invading  army;  and  the  labors  of  the  Romans,  with  the  fa- 


18  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

tigues  and  privations  to  which  they  were  exposed,  wasted 
them  so  much  that  they  are  said  by  the  historian  Dion  to 
have  lost  fifty  thousand  men,  equal  probably  to  more  than 
half  of  their  force.  Severus,  however,  advanced  as  far  as 
the  Firth  of  Moray,  and  noticed  a  length  of  days  and  short- 
ness of  nights  unknown  in  the  southern  latitudes.  In  this 
Boreal  region  the  emperor  made  a  peace,  illusory  on  the 
part  of  the  barbarians,  who  surrendered  some  arms,  and 
promised  submission.  Severus  returned  from  his  distant 
and  destructive  excursion,  borne  as  usual  in  his  litter  at 
the  head  of  his  army,  and  sharing  their  hardships  and  pri- 
vations. He  had  no  sooner  reached  York  on  his  return, 
than  he  received  information  that  the  whole  Caledonian 
tribes  were  again  in  arms.  He  issued  orders  for  collecting 
his  forces  and  invading  the  country  anew,  with  the  resolu- 
tion to  spare  neither  sex  nor  age,  but  totally  to  extirpate  the 
natives  of  these  wild  regions,  whose  minds  seemed  as  tame- 
less as  their  climate  or  country.  But  death  spared  the  em- 
peror the  guilt  of  so  atrocious  a  campaign.  Severus  expired, 
February,  211.  His  son  restored  to  the  Caledonians  the  ter- 
ritories which  his  father  had  overrun  rather  than  subdued ; 
and  the  wall  of  Antonine,  the  more  northern  of  the  two  ram- 
parts, was  once  again  tacitly  recognized  as  the  boundary  of 
the  Roman  province,  and  limit  of  the  empire. 

From  this  time  the  war  in  Britain  was  on  the  part  of  the 
Romans  merely  defensive,  while  on  that  of  the  free  Britons 
it  became  an  incursive  predatory  course  of  hostilities,  that 
was  seldom  intermitted.  In  this  species  of  contest  the  colo- 
nized Britons,  who  had  lost  the  art  of  fighting  for  themselves, 
were  for  some  time  defended  by  the  swords  of  their  conquer- 
ors. In  368,  and  again  in  398,  Roman  succors  were  sent  to 
Britain,  and  repressed  successfully  the  fury  of  the  barbarians. 
In  422  a  legion  was  again  sent  to  support  the  colonists ;  but, 
tired  of  the  task  of  protecting  them,  the  Romans,  in  446, 
ostentatiously  restored  the  Southern  Britons  to  freedom,  and 
exhorting  them  henceforth  to  look  to  their  own  defence,  evac- 
uated Britain  forever.  The  boast  that  Scotland's  more  re- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  19 

mote  regions  were  never  conquered  by  the  Romans  is  not  a 
vain  one;  for  the  army  of  Severus  invaded  Caledonia,  with- 
out subduing  it,  and  even  his  extreme  career  stopped  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  Moray  Firth,  and  left  the  northern  and 
western  Highlands  unassailed. 

In  the  fifth  century  there  appear  in  North  Britain  two 
powerful  and  distinct  tribes,  who  are  not  before  named  in 
history.  These  were  the  Picts  and  Scots. 

I.  The  name  of  the  former  people  has  caused  much,  but 
seemingly  unnecessary,  speculation.     The  Picts  seem  to  have 
been  that  race  of  free  Britons  beyond  the  Roman  wall  who 
retained  the  habit  of  staining  the  body  when  going  into  bat- 
tle, and  were  called  by  the  Romans  and  Roman  colonists  the 
Painted  Men,  a  name  which,  at  first  applied  to  particular 
tribes,  superseded  at  last  the  former  national  name  of  Cale- 
donians.    These  people  inhabited  the  eastern  shores  of  Scot- 
land, as  far  south  as  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and  as  far  north  as 
the  island  extended.     Claudin  proves  that  these  natives  act- 
ually followed  the  custom  of  painting  their  bodies,  as  implied 
by  the  expression  nee  falso  nomine  Pictos — "nor  falsely 
termed  the  Picts."     There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  though 
descendants  of  the  ancient  British  Caledonians,  and  there- 
fore Celts  by  origin,  the  Picts  were  mingled  with  settlers 
from  the  north,  of  Gothic  name,   descent,   and   language. 
The  erratic  habits  of  the  Scandinavians  render  this  highly 
probable. 

II.  The  Scots,  on  the  other  hand,  were  of  Irish  origin ; 
for,  to  the  great  confusion  of  ancient  history,  the  inhabitants 
of  Ireland,  those  at  least  of  the  conquering  and  predominat- 
ing caste,  were  called  Scots.     A  colony  of  these  Irish  Scots, 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  Dalriads  or  Dalreudini,  natives 
of  Ulster,  had  early  attempted  a  settlement  on  the  coast  of 
Argyleshire :  they  finally  established  themselves  there  under 
Fergus,  the  son  of  Eric,  about  the  year  503,  and,  recruited 
by  colonies  from  Ulster,  continued  to  multiply  and  increase 
until  they  formed  a  nation  which  occupied  the  western  side 
of  Scotland,  and  came  to  border  on  a  people  with  a  name, 


20  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

and  perhaps  a  descent,  similar  to  their  own.  These  were  the 
Attacotti,  a  nation  inhabiting  the  northern  part  of  Lanark- 
shire and  the  district  called  Lennox,  which  seems  ultimately 
to  have  melted  away  into  the  Scots. 

These  two  free  nations  of  Picts  and  Scots,  inhabiting,  the 
former  the  eastern,  the  latter  the  western,  shores  of  North 
Britain,  appear  to  have  resembled  each  other  in  manners 
and  ferocity,  and  to  have  exercised  the  last  quality  without 
scruple  on  the  Roman  colonists.  Both  nations,  like  the 
Irish,  converted  their  shaggy  and  matted  hair  into  a  spe- 
cies' of  natural  head-dress,  which  served  either  for  helmet 
or  mask,  as  was  deemed  necessary.  Their  weapons  were 
light  javelins,  swords  of  unwieldy  length,  and  shields  made 
of  wickerwork  or  hides.  Their  houses  were  constructed  of 
wattles,  or  in  more  dangerous  times  they  burrowed  under 
ground  in  long,  narrow,  tortuous  excavations,  which  still 
exist,  and  the  idea  of  which  seems  to  have  been  suggested 
by  a  rabbit-warren.  The  Picts  had  some  skill  in  construct- 
ing rude  strongholds,  surrounded  by  a  rampart  of  loose 
stones.  They  had  also  some  knowledge  of  agriculture. 
The  Scots,  who  lived  in  a  mountainous  country,  subsisted 
almost  entirely  on  the  produce  of  the  chase,  and  that  of 
their  flocks  and  herds.  Their  worship  might  be  termed 
that  of  demons,  since  the  imaginary  beings  whom  they 
adored  were  the  personification  of  their  own  evil  pursuits 
and  passions.  War  was  their  sole  pursuit,  slaughter  their 
chief  delight;  and  it  was  no  wonder  they  worshipped  the 
imaginary  god  of  battle  with  barbarous  and  inhuman  rites. 

Even  over  these  wild  people,  inhabiting  a  country  as 
savage  as  themselves,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arose  with 
healing  under  his  wings.  Good  men,  on  whom  the  name 
of  saint  (while  not  used  in  a  superstitious  sense)  was  justly 
bestowed,  to  whom  life  and  the  pleasures  of  this  world  were 
as  nothing,  so  they  could  call  souls  to  Christianity,  under- 
took and  succeeded  in  the  perilous  task  of  enlightening  these 
savages.  Religion,  though  it  did  not  at  first  change  the  man- 
ners of  nations  waxed  old  in  barbarism,  failed  not  to  intro- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  21 

duce  those  institutions  on  which  rest  the  dignity  and  happi- 
ness of  social  life.  The  law  of  marriage  was  established 
among  them,  and  all  the  brutalizing  evils  of  polygamy  gave 
place  to  the  consequences  of  a  union  which  tends  most  di- 
rectly to  separate  the  human  from  the  brute  species.  The 
abolition  of  idolatrous  ceremonies  took  away  many  bloody 
and  brutalizing  practices ;  and  the  Gospel,  like  the  grain  of 
mustard-seed,  grew  and  flourished  in  noiseless  increase,  in- 
sinuating into  men's  hearts  the  blessings  inseparable  from 
its  influence. 

Such  were  the  nations  to  which  the  Britons  whom  Rome 
had  colonized  were  exposed  by  the  retreat  of  those  who  were 
at  once  their  masters  and  protectors,  and  these  two  fierce 
races  inhabited  the  greater  part  of  the  country  now  called 
Scotland. 

The  retreat  of  the  Romans  left  the  British  provincialists 
totally  defenceless.  Their  parting  exhortation  to  them  to 
stand  to  their  own  defence,  -and  their  affectation  of  having, 
by  abandoning  the  island,  restored  them  to  freedom,  were  as 
cruel  as  it  would  be  to  dismiss  a  domesticated  bird  or  animal 
to  shift  for  itself,  after  having  been  from  its  birth  fed  and 
supplied  by  the  hand  of  man.  The  Scots  and  Picts  rushed 
against  the  Roman  bulwark,  when  no  longer  defended  by 
Romans ;  it  was  stormed  from  the  land  by  the  barbarians, 
or  the  barrier  was  surrounded  by  turning  the  extremities  of 
it  with  naval  expeditions.  Persecuted  in  every  quarter,  and 
reduced  to  absolute  despair,  the  provincial  Britons  called  in 
the  Saxons  to  their  aid  about  two  years  after  the  Romans 
had  left  the  island. 

The  Saxons  were  of  Gothic  descent,  and  to  courage  equal 
to  that  of  the  North  Briton  tribes  they  added  better  arms  and 
a  formidable  discipline.  They  drove  back  both  Scots  and 
Picts  within  their  own  limits,  and  even  made  considerable 
additions  of  territory  at  their  expense.  Ida,  one  of  those 
northern  worshippers  of*  Odin  who  erected  the  kingdoms  of 
the  heptarchy,  landed  in  547,  and  founded  that  of  North- 
umberland. Subduing  or  bringing  under  voluntary  obedi- 


532  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

ence  a  part  of  the  Picts  who  had  formed  settlements  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  Firth  of  Forth,  this  prince  added  for 
the  time  to  an  English  sceptre  the  districts  of  lower  Teviot- 
dale  and  Berwickshire,  as  well  as  all  the  three  Lothians, 
excepting  some  part  of  the  western  county  so  named. 

Thus  the  country  now  called  Scotland  was  divided  be- 
tween five  nations,  which  we  shall  recapitulate.  1.  The 
Irish  Scots  held  all  the  mountainous  district,  now  called 
Argyleshire,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Clyde.  2.  The 
country  called  Clydesdale,  with  Peebleshire,  Selkirkshire, 
and  the  upper  parts  of  Roxburghshire,  bordered  on  the 
south  by  Cumberland,  forming  what  was  anciently  entitled 
the  kingdom  of  Strath-Clyde,  was  inhabited  by  the  descend- 
ants of  the  British  colonists,  who  were  hence  called  Britons. 
3.  Galloway,  comprehending  most  part  of  Ayrshire,  was  in- 
habited by  a  mixed  race,  partly  Scots  settlers  from  Ireland 
of  a  different  stock  from  that  of  the  Dalriads  or  Irish  Scots 
of  Argyleshire,  partly  Picts  who.  had  acquired  possessions 
among  them.  Hence  the  Galwegians  are  sometimes  called 
the  wild  Scots  of  Galloway.  4.  The  most  numerous  people 
in  Scotland,  as  thus  subdivided,  seem  to  have  been  the  Picts. 
The  successes  of  the  Saxons  had,  indeed,  driven  them  as  a 
nation  from  Lothian,  and  their  possession  of  Galwegia  was, 
as  just  noticed,  only  partial.  But  they  possessed  Fife  and 
Angus,  Stirling,  and  Perthshire :  jnore  north  of  this  they 
held  all  the  northeastern  counties,  "though  in  Moray,  Caith- 
ness, and  Sutherland,  there  were  settlements  of  Scandina- 
vians in  a  state  of  independence.  5.  Lastly,  the  Saxons  of 
Northumberland  had  extended  their  kingdom  to  the  Firth 
of  Eorth:  so  that  Ida,  a  Saxon,  occupied  the  March,  Tev- 
iotdale  as  high  as  Melrose,  and  the  three  Lothians,  which 
afterward  became  and  are  now  accounted  integral  parts  of 
Scotland.  The  Saxons  retained  possession  of  these  five  prov- 
inces under  several  kings,  and  especially  under  Edwin,  who 
founded  near  the  shores  of  the  Forth  the  castle  called  from 
his  name  Edwinsburgh,  now  Edinburgh,  the  capital  of  the 
Scottish  kingdom;  this  was  posterior  to  617.  In  685  a  check 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  23 

was  given  to  the  encroachment  of  the  Saxons  by  the  slaugh- 
ter and  defeat  of  their  king  Egfrid  at  the  battle  of  Drum- 
nechtan,  probably  Dunnichen;  and  the  district  south  of  the 
Forth  was  repeatedly  the  scene  of  severe  battles  between 
the  Picts  and  Northumbrians,  the  latter  striving  to  hold,  the 
former  to  regain,  these  fertile  provinces. 

A  much  more  important  struggle  than  that  between  the 
Saxons  and  Picts  was  maintained  between  the  latter  nation 
and  the  Scoto-Irish  inhabiting,  as  we  have  seen,  the  west- 
ern, as  the  Picts  held  the  eastern  side  of  the  island.  It  was, 
indeed,  evident  that  until  these  two  large  portions  of  North 
Britain  should  be  united  under  one  government,  the  security 
of  the  country  against  foreign  invaders  was  not  to  be  relied 
on.  After  many  desperate  battles,  much  effusion  of  blood, 
and  a  merciless  devastation  of  both  countries,  some  measures 
seem  to  have  been  taken  for  settling  a  lasting  peace  between 
these  contending  nations.  TJrgaria,  sister  of  Ungus,  king  of 
Picts,  was  married  to  AychalV.,  king  of  Scots,  and  their  son 
Alpine,  succeeding  his  father  as  king  of  Scots,  flourished 
from  833  to  836,  in  which  last  year  he  was  slain,  urging 
some  contests  in  Galloway.  The  Pictish  throne,  thus  thrown 
open  for  want  of  an  heir  male,  was  claimed  by  Kenneth,  son 
and  successor  of  Alpine,  who,  as  descended  of  Urgaria,  the 
sister  of  Ungus,  urged  his  right  of  inheritance  with  an  army. 
Wrad,  the  last  of  the  Pictish  monarchs,  died  at  Forteviot,  in 
842,  fighting  in  defence  of  his  capital  and  kingdom,  and  the 
Pictish  people  were  subdued.  Tradition  and  ancient  history 
combine  in  representing  Kenneth,  when  victorious,  as  extir- 
pating the  whole  race  of  Picts,  which  we  must  consider  as 
an  exaggeration.  More  modern  authors,  shocked  at  the  im- 
probability of  such  an  incident,  have  softened  it  down  by 
supposing  that,  on  the  death  of  "Wrad,  Kenneth  occupied  the 
Pictish  throne  by  inheritance,  as  lawful  heir  in  right  of  his 
grandmother  Urgaria.  But  it  is  a  great  bar  to  this  modified 
opinion,  that  from  the  time  of  Kenneth  Macalpine's  victory 
over  Wrad,  no  more  is  spoken  in  Scottish  history  of  the 
Pictish  people  or  the  Pictish  crown;  while  the  king  of  Scots 


24  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

and  his  nation  engross  the  whole  space,  which  before  the 
subjugation  was  occupied  by  both  nations.  In  a  word,  so 
complete  must  have  been  the  revolution,  that  the  very  lan- 
guage of  the  Picts  is  lost,  and  what  dialect  they  spoke  is*  a 
subject  of  doubt  to  antiquarians.  It  was  probably  Celtic, 
with  a  strong  tinge  of  Gothic. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  26 


CHAPTER  II 

Kenneth  Macalpine:  his  Successors — Malcolm  I.  obtains  possession 
of  Cumberland:  Successors  of  Malcolm — Kenneth  III.,  and  his 
Successors — Malcolm  II. 

WHEN  Kenneth  Macalpine  joined  in  his  person  the 
crowns  both  of  the  Picts  and  Scots,  he  became  an 
adversary  fit  to  meet  and  match  with  the  warlike 
Saxons.  The  country  united  under  his  sway  was  then  called 
for  the  first  time  Scotland,  which  name  it  has  ever  since  re- 
tained. He  strove  fiercely  to  carry  his  banner  of  the  Dalriads 
into  Lothian,  of  which  he  perhaps  vindicated  the  sovereignty, 
as  the  contested  country  had  been  part  of  the  territory  of  the 
Picts  till  wrested  from  them  by  Ida.  It  is  besides  recorded 
of  Kenneth  Macalpine  that  he  was  a  legislator ;  which  may 
be  doubtless  true,  although  the  laws  published  as  his  are 
forgeries. 

Kenneth  might  be  justly  termed  the  first  king  of  Scot- 
land, being  the  first  who  possessed  such  a  territory  as  had 
title  to  be  termed  a  kingdom,  since  it  would  be  absurd  to 
bestow  the  term  of  sovereigns  upon  the  Scoto-Irish  chiefs  of 
Argyleshire,  in  whose  obscure  genealogy  historians  must, 
however,  trace  the  original  roots  of  the  royal  line. 

Not  to  incur  the  charge  of  l&ze  majestd,  however,  brought 
by  Sir  George  Mackenzie,  the  king's  advocate  of  the  day, 
against  Dr.  Stillingfleet,  for  abridging  the  royal  pedigree  by 
some  links,  we  will  briefly  record  that  by  the  best  authorities 
twenty-eight  of  these  Dalriadic  kings  or  chiefs  reigned  suc- 
cessively in  Argyleshire,  where  the  old  tower  of  Dunstaff- 
nage  is  said  to  have  been  their  chief  residence.  Kenneth 
Macalpine  was  the  twenty-ninth  in  descent  from  Fergus  the 
son  of  Eric,  the  first  of  the  race. 

The  descendants  of  this  fortunate  prince  pass  us  in  gloomy 

VOL.  I. 


26  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

and  obscure  pageantry,  like  those  of  Banquo  on  the  theatre. 
In  mentioning  their  names,  we  shall  only  take  notice  of  such 
incidents  in  their  several  reigns  as  are  necessary  either  to 
illustrate  the  future  history  of  Scotland,  or  the  manners  of 
the  period  of  which  we  treat.  "We  shall  thus  avoid  the  dis- 
gusting task  of  recording  obscure  and  ferocious  contests, 
fought  by  leaders  with  unpronounceable  names,  from  which 
the  reader,  to  use  the  expression  of  Milton  on  a  similar  occa- 
sion, gains  no  more  valuable  information  than  if  he  were 
perusing  the  events  of  a  war  maintained  between  kites  and 
crows. 

In  859,  Kenneth  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Donald; 
for  the  mode  of  inheritance  both  in  the  Scottish  and  Pictish 
royal  families  was  favorable  to  nepotical  succession,  and  the 
brother  of  a  deceased  monarch  was  often  called  to  the  crown 
in  preference  to  the  son,  in  order,  it  may  be  supposed,  to 
escape  the  inconvenience  of  frequent  minorities.  Of  Donald 
there  is  nothing  to  be  said,  and  of  his  nephew  Constantino, 
son  of  Kenneth,  very  little.  The  latter  died  defending  his 
territories  against  an  invasion  of  the  Danes,  who  were  now 
the  curse  of  the  age;  or,  if  tradition  be  believed,  he  was 
made  prisoner  while  alive,  and  sacrificed  in  a  cave  on  the 
seacoast  in  the  parish  of  Crail,  to  the  manes  of  the  Danish 
leader,  who  had  fallen  in  the  fray.  The  successors  of  Con- 
stantino were  Aodh,  Eocha,  and  Grig,  who  reigned  jointly; 
after  them  reigned  a  Donald,  called  the  fourth ;  and  a  third 
Constantino.  Of  the  four  first  it  is  only  necessary  to  say, 
that  their  reigns  displayed  the  same  scenes  of  blood  and 
slaughter,  with  the  same  unsatisfactory  result,  which  dis- 
gust us  in  the  annals  of  the  period.  Constantino  the  Third 
is  only  remarkable  for  having  confederated  with  the  sea- 
king  Anlaf  to  invade  England,  and  shared  the  defeat  which 
the  Norsemen  received  from  Athelstane,  at  the  great  battle 
of  Brunnanburgh.  Escaped  from  the  slaughter  of  that 
bloody  day,  in  which  he  lost  a  gallant  son,  Constantino 
retired  into  a  cloister,  and  became  a  chief  of  Culdees,  in 
the  fortieth  year  of  his  reign,  952. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  27 

Malcolm,  the  first  of  a  name  that  la  famous  in  Scottish 
annals,  enlarged  his  territories  by  a  valuable  acquisition. 
We  have  not  yet  had  occasion  to  mention  that,  opposite 
to  the  British  kingdom  of  Strath-Clyde,  there  lay  another 
kingdom  of  the  same  nation  called  Reged,  also  consisting 
of  British  tribes,  and  much  renowned  in  the  lays  of  their 
bards. 

This  separate  state,  consisting  of  Cumberland  and  West- 
moreland, made  a  stout  resistance  to  the  foreigners;  nor 
were  the  Saxon  princes  of  the  period  ever  able  thoroughly  to 
subdue  them.  Edmund  the  Elder,  of  England,  wasted  this 
little  kingdom  by  way  of  punishing  its  insubordination;  he 
put  out  the  eyes  of  the  five  sons  of  Dunmail,  its  last  British 
king,  and  bestowed  the  territory  on  Malcolm,  king  of  Scots, 
on  condition  that  he  should  become  his  ally,  and  assist  him 
by  sea  and  land  hi  defence  of  his  kingdom.  Thus  by  a 
singular  anomaly,  while  England  was  in  possession  of  the 
Lothians,  at  present  an  indubitable  part  of  Scotland,  the 
king  of  Scots  possessed  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland, 
now  an  undisputed  part  of  the  territories  of  England. 

Of  the  reigns  of  Indulf  and  Duff,  princes  who  succeeded 
Malcolm,  little  is  known.  But  the  death  of  Culen,  the  third 
successor  of  Malcolm,  proves  the  curious  fact,  that  the  Brit- 
ons of  Strath-Clyde  were  still  independent.  The  violation 
of  a  British  maiden  of  royal  birth  gave  occasion  to  a  war 
between  them  and  the  Scots.  The  Britons  were  victorious, 
and  Culen  fell  in  the  year  970. 

Kenneth  III.,  son  of  Malcolm  I.,  succeeded  to  the  Scot- 
tish throne.  He  subjected  to  his  sway  the  Britons  of  Strath- 
Clyde,  and  thus  added  materially  to  the  strength  of  his  king- 
dom. It  appears,  however,  that  Strath-Clyde  was  governed 
by  separate  though  tributary  princes  for  some  time  after  it 
was  joined  to  the  realm  of  Scotland.  In  the  reign  of  this 
prince  the  Danes  entered  the  Firth  of  Tay  with  a  large  fleet 
They  were  met  by  the  Scottish  king,  and  a  decisive  battle 
took  place  at  Loncarty.  The  Danes  fought  with  their  accus- 
tomed fury,  and  compelled  the  two  Scottish  wings  to  retire 


28  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

behind  the  centre,  which,  commanded  by  Kenneth  in  person, 
stood  firm,  and  decided  the  fate  of  the  day.  Monumental 
stones,  barrows  filled  with  the  relics  and  arms  of  those  who 
fell,  attest  the  truth  of  this  battle,  remembered  yet  for 
the  obstinacy  with  which  it  was  fought,  notwithstanding 
which  some  historians  have  affected  incredulity  on  the 
subject. 

Kenneth  III.  came  to  his  end  by  female  treachery.  He 
had  put  to  death  the  only  son  of  Fenella,  wife  of  the  maor- 
mor  or  viceroy  of  Kincardineshire.  Fenella,  though  the 
execution  had  been  a  deserved  one,  did  not  the  less  readily 
determine  on  revenging  her  son's  death.  She  invited  Ken- 
neth to  lodge  in  her  house  near  Fettercairn  in  the  Mearns : 
here  he  was  assassinated.  The  inhospitable  murderess  es- 
caped from  her  castle  (of  which  the  vestiges  are  still  visi- 
ble) down  a  valley,  still  called  Strath-Fenella,  to  a  place 
in  the  parish  of  Fordun,  where  she  was  seized  and  put 
to  death. 

The  sons  of  two  of  Kenneth  the  Third's  predecessors 
strove  for  the  Scottish  crown.  One  of  these  was  Constan- 
tino IV.,  son  of  Culen,  who  assumed  the  title  of  king,  but 
was  defeated  and  slain  in  995  by  Kenneth  IV.,  son  of  Duff, 
called  the  Grim.  He  was  in  turn  dethroned  and  slain  by 
Malcolm,  son  of  Kenneth  the  Third,  after  eight  years  spent 
in  broils  and  bloodshed.  This  was  in  1003. 

The  victor,  Malcolm  II.,  was  an  able  prince  and  renowned 
leader.  He  had  much  trouble  from  invasions  of  the  Danes. 
In  1010  they  made  a  descent  upon  Moray,  and  the  king  of 
Scots  met  them  in  battle.  The  fury  of  the  Northmen  pre- 
vailed, and  the  Scots  retreated  to  the  vicinity  of  a  chapel 
dedicated  to  Saint  Moloch.  Here  Malcolm,  in  despair  of 
earthly  aid,  threw  himself  from  his  horse,  and  made  a  vow 
to  found  a  cathedral  church  to  the  same  tutelar  power  (how- 
ever ambiguous  the  sound  of  his  name)  provided  he  should 
obtain  the  victory  by  his  intercession.  Rising  from  his 
knees,  Malcolm  fought  with  enthusiasm,  slew  the  Danish 
king,  and  gained  a  complete  victory.  The  church,  dedicated 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  29 

to  Saint  Moloch,  was  built,  and  is  still  standing.  Twenty- 
three  feet  is  said  to  have  been  selected  for  the  length  of  the 
chancel,  that  it  might  correspond  with  that  of  the  king's 
gigantic  spear,  for  so  ran  an  article  of  his  vow.  Several 
Danish  skulls,  the  relics  of  distinguished  champions,  were 
built  up  in  the  wall  of  the  church  of  Mortlach.  Sueno,  the 
Danish  monarch,  renewed  the  attempt  at  invasion  by  de- 
taching a  fleet  and  army  under  Camus,  one  of  the  most 
renowned  of  the  vikingar,  or  kings  of  the  ocean;  but  he  was 
defeated  and  slain  at  Aberlemno,  where  a  tall  monumental 
stone,  highly  sculptured,  still  preserves  remembrance  of  the 
action. 

Sueno,  disheartened  by  so  many  defeats,  seems  to  have 
entered  into  some  convention  with  Malcolm  II.  for  abstain- 
ing from  future  invasion,  and  abandoning  a  species  of  castle 
which  he  had  established  in  Moray  called  the  Burgh-head. 
It  was  highly  to  the  honor  both  of  prince  and  people,  that 
these  northern  warriors,  who  successfully  annoyed  the  sea- 
coasts  of  every  other  country  in  Europe,  and  had  established 
a  Danish  dynasty  on  the  throne  of  England,  were  taught  by 
successive  defeats  to  shun  the  fatal  shores  of  Scotland.  It 
was,  probably,  the  renown  attendant  on  the  victories  over 
the  Danes,  as  well  as  a  successful  campaign  against  the 
Saxons,  which  gained  to  Malcolm  a  large  and  valuable 
accession  to  his  territories.  Eadulf-Cudel,  earl  of  Northum- 
berland, in  1020  ceded  to  the  Scottish  king  the  rich  district 
of  Lothene  or  Lothian,  including  not  only  the  whole  of  the 
three  provinces  now  called  so,  but  Berwickshire  and  the 
lower  part  of  Teviotdale  as  high  perhaps  as  Melrose  upon 
the  Tweed.  The  condition  of  this  cession  was  lasting  friend- 
ship, afterward  apparently  explained  into  homage,  which 
the  Scottish  kings  certainly  paid  for  this  district  of  Lothian 
as  well  as  for  other  possessions  in  England,  to  the  sovereigns 
of  that  country. 

Malcolm  died  peaceably  in  1033,  and  was  succeeded  by 
"The  gracious  Duncan,"  the  same  who  fell  by  the  poniard 
of  Macbeth.  On  reading  these  names,  every  reader  must 


30  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

feel  as  if  brought  from  darkness  into  the  blaze  of  noonday; 
so  familiar  are  we  with  the  personages  whom  we  last  named, 
and  so  clearly  and  distinctly  we  recall  the  events  in  which 
they  are  interested,  in  comparison  with  any  doubtful  and 
misty  views  which  we  can  form  of  the  twilight  times  before 
and  after  that  fortunate  period.  But  we  must  not  be  blinded 
by  our  poetical  enthusiasm,  nor  add  more  than  due  impor- 
tance to  legends,  because  they  have  been  woven  into  the 
most  striking  tale  of  ambition  and  remorse  that  ever  struck 
awe  into  a  human  bosom.  The  genius  of  Shakespeare  hav- 
ing found  the  tale  of  Macbeth  in  the  Scottish  chronicles 
of  Holinshed,  adorned  it  with  a  lustre  similar  to  that  with 
which  a  level  beam  of  the  sun  often  invests  some  fragment 
of  glass,  which,  though  shining  at  a  distance  with  the  lustre 
of  a  diamond,  is  by  a  near  investigation  discovered  to  be  of 
no  worth  or  estimation. 

Duncan,  by  his  mother  Beatrice  a  grandson  of  Malcolm 
II.,  succeeded  to  the  throne  on  his  grandfather's  death,  in 
1033:  he  reigned  only  six  years.  Macbeth,  his  near  rela- 
tion, also  a  grandchild  of  Malcolm  II.,  though  by  the  moth- 
er's side,  was  stirred  up  by  ambition  to  contest  the  throne 
with  the  possessor.  The  lady  of  Macbeth  also,  whose  real 
name  was  Graoch,  had  deadly  injuries  to  avenge  on  the 
reigning  prince.  She  was  the  granddaughter  of  Kenneth 
IV.,  killed  in  1003,  fighting  against  Malcolm  II. ;  and  other 
causes  for  revenge  animated  the  mind  of  her  who  has  been 
since  painted  as  the  sternest  of  women.  The  old  annalists 
add  some  instigations  of  a  supernatural  kind  to  the  influ- 
ence of  a  vindictive  woman  over  an  ambitious  husband. 
Three  women,  of  more  than  human  stature  and  beauty, 
appeared  to  Macbeth  in  a  dream  or  vision,  and  hailed  him 
successively  by  the  titles  of  thane  of  Cromarty,  thane  of 
Moray,  which  the  king  afterward  bestowed  on  him,  and 
finally  by  that  of  king  of  Scots :  this  dream,  it  is  said,  in- 
spired him  with  the  seductive  hopes  so  well  expressed  in  the 
drama. 

Macbeth  broke  no  law  of  hospitality  in  his  attempt  on 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  31 

Duncan's  life.  He  attacked  and  slew  the  king  at  a  place 
called  Bothgowan,  or  the  Smith's  House,  near  Elgin,  in 
1039,  and  not,  as  has  been  supposed,  in  his  own  castle  of 
Inverness.  The  act  was  bloody,  as  was  the  complexion 
of  the  times;  but,  in  very  truth,  the  claim  of  Macbeth  to 
the  throne,  according  to  the  rule  of  Scottish  succession,  was 
better  than  that  of  Duncan.  As  a  king,  the  tyrant  so  much 
exclaimed  against  was,  in  reality,  a  firm,  just,  and  equitable 
prince. 

Apprehensions  of  danger  from  a  party  which  Malcolm, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  slaughtered  Duncan,  had  set  on  foot 
in  Northumberland,  and  still  maintained  in  Scotland,  seem, 
in  process  of  time,  to  have  soured  the  temper  of  Macbeth, 
and  rendered  him  formidable  to  his  nobility.  Against  Mac- 
duff,  in  particular,  the  powerful  maormor  of  Fife,  he  had 
uttered  some  threats  which  occasioned  that  chief  to  fly  from 
the  court  of  Scotland.  Urged  by  this  new  counsellor,  Si  ward, 
the  Danish  earl  of  Northumberland,  invaded  Scotland  in  the 
year  1054,  displaying  his  banner  in  behalf  of  the  banished 
Malcolm.  Macbeth  engaged  the  foe  in  the  neighborhood 
of  his  celebrated  castle  of  Dunsinane.  He  was  defeated, 
but  escaped  from  the  battle,  and  was  slain  at  Lumphananan 
in  1056. 

Very  slight  observation  will  enable  us  to  recollect  how 
much  this  simple  statement  differs  from  that  of  the  drama, 
though  the  plot  of  the  latter  is  consistent  enough  with  the 
inaccurate  historians  from  whom  Shakespeare  drew  his 
materials.  It  might  be  added,  that  early  authorities  show 
us  no  such  persons  as  Banquo  and  his  son  Fleance,  nor  have 
we  reason  to  think  that  the  latter  ever  fled  further  from 
Macbeth  than  across  the  flat  scene,  according  to  the  stage 
direction.  Neither  were  Banquo  nor  his  son  ancestors  of 
the  house  of  Stuart.  All  these  things  are  now  known ;  but 
the  mind  retains  pertinaciously  the  impression  made  by  the 
impositions  of  genius.  "While  the  works  of  Shakespeare  are 
read,  and  the  English  language  subsists,  History  may  say 
what  she  will,  but  the  general  reader  will  only  recollect 


82  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

Macbeth,  as  a  sacrilegious  usurper,  and  Richard  as  a  de- 
formed murderer. 

Macbeth  left  a  son,  named  Luach,  which  is  translated 
fatuiis,  or  the  simple.  After  a  few  months'  struggle,  he 
was  defeated  and  slain  at  Essie,  in  Strath-Bogie. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  33 


CHAPTER    III 

Malcolm  III.,  called  Cean-mohr — Foreigners  seek  Refuge  in  Scot- 
land: kindly  received  by  the  King  and  by  his  Wife — The  King's 
Affection  for  Margaret — Death  of  Malcolm  and  Margaret — 
Donald  Bane — Duncan — Edgar — Alexander  I. — David  I. — Bat- 
tle of  Northallerton — David's  Death — His  Beneficence  to  the 
Church — His  Character  as  a  Sovereign 


M 


ALCOLM  III.,  son  of  Duncan,  called  Cean-mohr,  or 
Great-head,  from  the  misproportioned  size  of  that 
part  of  his  body,  ascended  the  Scottish  throne  in 
1056.  He  was  a  prince  of  valor  and  talent,  and,  having 
been  bred  in  the  school  of  adversity,  had  profited  by  the 
lessons  taught  in  that  stern  seminary.  His  long  residence 
in  the  north  of  England  must  necessarily  have  given  him 
means  of  acquiring  more  information  than  if  he  had  remained 
during  his  youth  with  his  ignorant  subjects.  In  his  reign, 
too,  a  more  steady  light  begins  to  dawn  on  Scottish  history ; 
rather,  however,  from  the  English  annals  than  from  any 
that  are  proper  to  the  kingdom  itself.  Malcolm  had  resided 
long  in  England;  he  had  probably  visited  the  capital  during 
the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  to  whom  he  had  been 
indebted  for  relief  and  protection.  His  habits  and  attach- 
ments led  him  to  keep  up  a  correspondence  with  that  coun- 
try; and,  excepting  the  Scottish  short  and  hasty  incursion 
into  Northumberland  in  1061,  nothing  occurred  during  the 
Saxon  dynasty  in  England  which  could  infringe  the  good 
understanding  between  what  may  be  called  from  this  period 
the  sister  kingdoms.  The  death  of  Edward  the  Confessor 
somewhat  shook  this  state  of  amity.  Malcolm  appears  to 
have  been  more  indifferent  to  the  friendship  of  his  successor, 
Harold,  since,  in  1066,  he  received  into  Scotland  Tostigh, 


34  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

brother  to  the  English  king,  then  hatching  a  conspiracy, 
and  projecting  an  invasion  of  Harold's  territories.  Tostigh 
united  with  the  king  of  Norway,  and  both  were  slain  next 
summer  at  the  battle  of  Stamford  Bridge. 

The  conquest  of  England  by  the  Normans  sent  other 
fugitives  into  Scotland,  who  emigrated  in  consequence  of 
the  general  change  of  possession  occasioned  by  so  great  a 
revolution.  The  most  distinguished  of  these  were  Edgar 
Atheling  of  England,  the  heir  of  the  Confessor's  race,  with 
las  sister  Margaret,  one  of  the  fairest  and  most  accomplished 
maidens  in  England,  and  who,  considering  that  her  brother 
was  weak  both  in  mind  and  body,  might  be  looked  upon  as 
the  hope  of  the  Saxon  royal  line,  so  dear  to  the  English 
nation.  Edgar  Atheling  was  also  accompanied  in  his  flight 
by  his  mother  and  a  younger  sister.  Malcolm  espoused  the 
princess  Margaret,  about  1067. 

Allied  to  the  Saxon  royal  family  by  this  match,  the  king 
of  Scots  engaged  in  a  league  against  William  the  Conqueror 
with  some  discontented  lords  in  Northumberland,  and  with 
the  Danes.  The  Danes,  however,  were  repulsed,  and  the 
Northumbrian  conspirators  dispersed,  before  Malcolm  took 
the  field,  in  1070.  Exasperated  by  some  retaliation  on  his 
own  frontiers,  he  swept  the  bishopric  of  Durham  and  adja- 
cent parts  with  such  severity,  and  drove  away  so  great  a 
number  of  captives,  that  for  many  years  afterward  English 
slaves  were  to  be  found  in  every  hamlet  and  hut  in  Scot- 
land. 

The  revenge  of  the  Conqueror  operated  an  effect  similar 
to  that  of  the  wrath  of  Malcolm.  To  be  avenged  of  the 
rebellious  Northumbrians,  William  ravaged  the  country  with 
a  fury  which  laid  utterly  waste  the  fertile  possessions  between 
the  H  umber  and  Tees.  So  dolefully  was  the  face  of  the  coun- 
try changed,  says  William  of  Malmesbury,  that  a  stranger 
would  have  wept  over  it,  and  an  ancient  inhabitant  would 
not  have  recognized  it.  Many  thousands  of  the  lower  orders, 
and  also  a  considerable  number  both  of  Anglo-Saxons  and 
Normans  of  condition,  who  had  incurred  the  wrath  of  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  35 

Conqueror  William,   so  easy  to  awake,  and  so  difficult  to 
appease,  retired  into  Scotland  as  the  best  place  of  refuge. 

Malcolm,  sensible  of  the  value  of  the  Norman  chivalry, 
received  both  them  and  the  English  with  distinction,  and 
conferred  offices,  honors,  and  estates  upon  them  with  no 
sparing  hand.  For  example,  he  gave  refuge  to  the  Earl  of 
March,  who,  by  a  corruption  of  his  name  and  title  (Comes 
Patricius),  was  called  Gosspatrick,  when  he  was  banished 
from  England.  To  this  powerful  baron  Malcolm  committed 
the  castle  of  Dunbar,  which  might  be  called  the  second  and 
inner  gate  of  Scotland,  supposing  the  strong  town  of  Ber- 
wick to  be  the  first.  The  example  is  only  one  out  of  many 
instances  in  which  this  Scottish  monarch  displayed  his  con- 
fidence in  the  Normans,  and  his  desire  to  engage  in  his  ser- 
vice distinguished  persons  of  that  redoubted  nation,  who,  in 
that  age,  possessed  the  highest  character  for  military  skill 
and  invincible  valor. 

The  course  which  Malcolm  Cean-mohr  pursued  from  po- 
litical prudence  was  forwarded  by  his  royal  consort  from 
love  to  her  native  country,  joined  to  the  dictates  of  female 
sympathy  with  misfortune.  She  did  all  in  her  power,  and 
influenced  as  far  as  possible  the  mind  of  her  husband,  to 
relieve  the  distresses  of  her  Saxon  countrymen,  of  high  or 
low  degree;  assuaged  their  afflictions,  and  was  zealous  in 
protecting  those  who  had  been  involved  in  the  ruin  which 
the  battle  of  Hastings  brought  on  the  royal  house  of  Edward 
the  Confessor.  The  gentleness  and  mildness  of  temper  proper 
to  this  amiable  woman,  probably  also  the  experience  of  her 
prudence  and  good  sense,  had  great  weight  with  Malcolm, 
who,  though  preserving  a  portion  of  the  ire  and  ferocity 
belonging  to  the  king  of  a  wild  people,  was  far  from  being 
insensible  to  the  suggestions  of  his  amiable  consort.  He 
stooped  his  mind  to  hers  on  religious  matters,  adorned  her 
favorite  books  of  devotion  with  rich  bindings,  and  was  often 
seen  to  kiss  and  pay  respect  to  the  volumes  which  he  was 
unable  to  read.  He  acted  also  as  interpreter  to  Margaret, 
when  she  endeavored  to  enlighten  the  Scottish  clergy  upon 


36  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

the  proper  time  of  celebrating  Easter;  and  though  we  can- 
not attach  much  consequence  to  the  issue  of  this  polemical 
controversy,  which  terminated,  of  course,  in  favor  of  the 
cause  adopted  by  the  fair  pleader  and  the  royal  interpreter, 
yet  it  is  a  pleasing  picture  of  conjugal  affection  laboring 
jointly  for  the  instruction  of  a  barbarous  people;  nor  can 
we  doubt  that  its  influence  was  felt  in  more  material  cir- 
cumstances  than  the  precise  question  at  issue. 

After  the  death  of  William  the  Conqueror,  and  the  ac- 
cession of  William  Rufus,  various  subjects  of  quarrel  and 
mutual  incursions  took  place  betwixt  England  and  Scotland. 
The  general  cause  of  dispute  related  to  the  terms  on  which 
Malcolm  was  to  possess  Cumberland  and  Northumberland. 
These  provinces,  as  already  mentioned,  had  been  ceded,  the 
first  by  the  Saxon  king  Edgar,  the  second  by  a  Northum- 
brian earl,  to  the  Scottish  crown,  under  condition  of  close 
alliance  and  neighborly  assistance.  The  introduction  of 
feudal  holdings  substituted  the  homage  and  fealty  of  an 
inferior  prince  to  a  lord  paramount,  instead  of  the  loose 
stipulation  of  friendship  and  occasional  assistance.  These 
feudal  conditions  could  only  apply  to  the  provinces  of  Loth- 
ian, including  Berwickshire  and  part  of  Teviotdale,  to  North- 
umberland, and  to  Cumberland.  In  the  first  of  these  prov- 
inces Malcolm,  who,  crossing  the  Firth  of  Forth,  frequently 
resided  there,  had  established  a  fixed  and  permanent  author- 
ity. In  the  two  English  counties  his  tenure  and  his  influ- 
ence on  the  affections  of  the  subjects  were  much  less  decided. 
In  1080  William  Rufus  built  the  fortress  of  Newcastle,  and 
in  1092  that  of  Carlisle,  both  necessarily  tending  to  bridle 
and  render  insecure  the  possessions  of  the  Scottish  king  in 
the  two  northern  counties.  The  question  of  homage  was 
fiercely  agitated  at  this  early  period,  as  in  subsequent  gen- 
erations, and  usually  arranged  upon  general  terms,  or,  ac- 
cording to  the  legal  phrase,  salvo  jure  cujuslibet. 

These  heart-burnings  were  terminated  by  the  death  of 
Malcolm  Cean-mohr.  This  enterprising  prince  made  a  hasty 
incursion  into  England,  and  besieged  Alnwick  with  a  tu- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  37 

multuary  army.  The  circumstance  that  a  fortress  so  near 
the  frontiers  was  not  in  his  possession  argues  how  imper- 
fect was  his  authority  in  Northumberland.  While  thus 
employed,  he  was  surprised  by  Roger  de  Mowbray,  a  Nor- 
man baron,  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force,  and  an 
action  ensued,  on  the  13th  November,  1093,  hi  which  Mal- 
colm Cean-mohr  fell,  with  his  eldest  son.  Queen  Margaret, 
much  indisposed  at  the  time,  only  lived  to  hear  the  event, 
and  express  her  resignation  to  the  will  of  God.  She  died  on 
the  16th  November,  on  receiving  the  fatal  tidings. 

After  her  death,  Margaret  was  received  into  the  Romish 
calendar.  A  legend  of  a  well-imagined  miracle  narrates  that 
when  it  was  proposed  to  remove  the  body  of  the  new  saint 
to  a  tomb  of  more  distinction,  it  was  found  impossible  to  lift 
it  until  that  of  her  husband  had  received  the  same  honor,  as 
if  in  her  state  of  beatitude  Margaret  had  been  guided  by  the 
same  feelings  of  conjugal  deference  and  affection  which  had 
regulated  this  excellent  woman's  conduct  while  on  earth. 

The  character  of  Malcolm  Cean-mohr  himself  stands  high, 
if  his  situation  and  opportunities  be  considered.  He  was  a 
man  of  undaunted  courage  and  generosity.  A  nobleman  of 
his  court  had  engaged  to  assassinate  him.  The  circumstance 
became  known  to  the  king,  who,  during  the  amusement  of 
a  hunting-match,  drew  the  conspirator  into  a  solitary  glade 
of  the  forest,  upbraided  him  with  his  traitorous  intentions, 
and  defied  him  to  mortal  and  equal  combat.  The  assassin, 
surprised  at  this  act  of  generosity,  threw  himself  at  the  king's 
feet,  confessed  his  meditated  crime,  his  present  repentance, 
and  vowed  fidelity  for  the  future.  The  king  trusted  him  as 
before,  and  had  no  reason  to  repent  of  his  manly  conduct. 
This  story  seems  to  show  that  Malcolm,  the  protector  and 
friend  of  the  chivalrous  Normans,  had  caught  a  portion  of 
that  spirit  of  knightly  honor  and  high-souled  generosity 
which  they  contributed  so  much  to  spread  throughout 
Europe. 

A  very  improbable  legend  asserts  that  Malcolm  formally 
introduced  the  feudal  system  into  Scotland.  It  is  circum- 


38  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

stantially  alleged  that  he  summoned  all  the  Scottish  nobil- 
ity to  meet  him  at  Scone,  and  that  each  bringing  with  him, 
as  directed,  a  handful  of  earth  from  his  lands,  surrendered 
them  by  that  symbol  to  the  king,  who  granted  charters  of 
them  anew  to  each  proprietor,  under  the  form  of  feudal  in- 
vestiture. The  Moot  Hill  of  Scone,  or  place  of  justice,  called 
Mons  placiti,  is  said  to  be  composed  of  these  symbols  of  sur- 
render, and  thence  called  omnis  terra.  This  legend  is  totally 
incredible.  But  if  Malcolm  did  not,  as  indeed  he  probably 
could  not,  change  the  laws  of  his  whole  kingdom,  by  alter- 
ing in  every  case  the  tenure  on  which  property  was  held, 
there  is  no  doubt  that,  by  various  grants  in  particular  in- 
stances, he  contributed  to  introduce  into  Scotland  the  cus- 
tom of  feudal  investitures.  It  was  a  system  agreeable  to 
the  prince,  to  whom  it  attributed  the  flattering  character  of 
superior,  paramount,  or  original  proprietor  of  the  lands  of 
the  whole  kingdom.  It  was  agreeable  also  to  the  Normans 
whom  he  attracted  to  his  court.  These  attached  security  to 
a  royal  charter,  and  felt  that  they  increased  their  personal 
consequence,  by  obtaining  the  power  of  granting  lands  which 
they  could  not  occupy  to  sub-vassals,  who  should  hold  of 
them,  under  terms  of  service  similar  to  those  by  which  they 
themselves  held  their  estates  from  the  crown.  The  feudal 
system  was  also  the  established  law  of  France  and  England, 
to  which  the  Scottish  monarch  would  naturally  look  for  the 
means  of  improving  the  rude  institutions  of  his  native  coun- 
try. Although,  therefore,  feudal  law  certainly  was  not  in- 
troduced by  Malcolm  Cean-mohr,  we  may  conclude  that 
Scotland  was  in  his  time  first  prepared  to  receive  it  by  de- 
tached instances,  and  the  gradual  operation  of  concurring 
circumstances. 

Malcolm  Cean-mohr  at  his  death  left  a  family  under  age, 
but  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Donald  Bane,  a  wild  Scot, 
who,  flying  to  the  Hebrides  on  the  death  of  their  father 
Duncan,  does  not  appear  to  have  visited  his  brother  Mal- 
colm at  any  period  of  his  reign,  or  partaken  in  any  of  the 
novelties  which  he  had  introduced.  He  hurried  to  Scotland 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  39 

on  his  brother's  decease,  and,  by  the  assistance  of  an  army 
of  western  islanders,  took  possession  of  the  crown,  to  the 
prejudice  of  his  brother's  children.  This  rough  chieftain 
wcja  welcomed  by  many  of  the  northern  Scots,  who  were 
jealous  of  the  innovations  of  Malcolm  and  his  preference 
of  strangers. 

The  first  edict  of  Donald  Bane  was  a  sentence  of  banish- 
ment against  all  foreigners ;  a  brutal  attempt  to  bring  back 
all  Scotland  to  the  savage  state  of  Argyle  and  the  Hebrides. 
It  is  seldom,  however,  that  civilization,  having  once  made 
some  progress,  can  be  compelled  to  retrograde,  unless  when 
knowledge  is  united  with  corruption  and  effeminacy.  Don- 
ald Bane  had  no  permanent  triumph.  In  1094,  Duncan,  a 
base-born  son  of  the  late  king,  collected  a  numerous  force 
of  English  and  Normans,  and,  driving  Donald  Bane  back 
among  the  Red-shanks,  took  possession  of  his  throne; 
whether  in  his  own  right,  or  as  regont  for  the  lawful  fam- 
ily of  Malcolm,  is  uncertain.  After  having  held  the  sceptre, 
proper  or  delegated,  for  a  year,  Edmund,  his  half-brother, 
the  second  of  the  legitimate  children  of  Malcolm  Gean-mohr 
(the  first  being  a  priest),  procured  the  assassination  of  Dun- 
can, by  an  earl  of  the  Mearns,  and  replaced  Donald  Bane  on 
the  throne,  in  consequence  of  a  treaty,  by  which  he  became 
bound  to  share  the  kingdom  with  Edmund. 

Donald  Bane,  thus  again  enthroned,  resumed  his  purpose 
of  destroying  what  his  brother  Malcolm  had  accomplished 
for  civilizing  Scotland,  and  expelled  anew  the  foreigners 
from  his  kingdom.  This  produced  a  fresh  revolution.  la 
1098,  Edgar,  the  third  son  of  Malcolm  and  of  the  amiable 
Margaret,  being  favored  by  William  Rufus,  received  succors 
from  England,  and  making  himself  master  of  his  uncle  Don- 
ald Bane's  person,  imprisoned  him,  and  put  out  his  eyes. 
Edmund,  who  had  been  the  author  of  this  second  usurpa- 
tion of  Donald  Bane,  was  imprisoned,  and  in  token  of  peni- 
tence for  the  guilt  he  had  incurred  by  his  accession  to  the 
murder  of  Duncan,  ordered  the  fetters  which  he  had  worn 
in  his  dungeon  to  be  buried  with  him  in  his  coffin.  Not- 


40  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

withstanding  his  cruelty  to  his  aged  uncle,  the  character  of 
Edgar  seems  to  have  been  equitable  and  humane.  He  kept 
peace  with  England ;  and  the  amity  between  the  kingdoms 
was  strengthened  by  Henry  I.,  called  Beauclerc,  becoming 
the  husband  of  Matilda,  the  sister  of  Edgar.  Edgar  died  in 
1106,  after  an  undisturbed  reign  of  about  nine  years. 

Alexander  I.  succeeded  as  next  brother  of  Edgar.  His 
reign  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  determined  struggle  which 
he  made  in  defence  of  the  independence  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land. This  was  maintained  against  the  archbishops  of  Can- 
terbury and  York,  each  of  whom  claimed  a  spiritual  superi- 
ority over  Scotland,  and  a  right  to  consecrate  the  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrew's,  the  primate  of  that  kingdom.  Notwith- 
standing the  hostile  interference  of  the  pope,  Alexander, 
with  considerable  address,  contrived  to  play  off  the  contra- 
dictory pretensions  of  the  two  English  archbishops  against 
each  other,  and  thus  to  evade  complying  with  either.  Of 
Alexander's  personal  character  we  can  only  judge  from  the 
epithet  of  the  fierce,  which  referred  probably  to  his  own 
temper  and  manners,  since  assuredly  his  reign  was  peace- 
ful. He  died  1124. 

Alexander  was  succeeded  by  David  I.,  youngest  son  of 
Malcolm  Cean-mohr,  and  a  monarch  of  great  talents.  He 
was  free  from  the  ignorant  barbarity  of  his  countrymen, 
having  been  educated,  during  his  youth,  at  the  court  of 
Henry  I.,  the  celebrated  Beauclerc,  his  sister's  husband. 
David  had  entered  into  the  views  of  that  wise  monarch 
touching  his  succession,  and  had  sworn  to  maintain  the 
right  of  Henry's  daughter,  the  Empress  Matilda,  the  well- 
known  Queen  Maud  of  the  English  chroniclers,  to  the  king- 
dom of  England.  Accordingly  he  asserted  her  title  in  1135, 
and  when,  upon  the  death  of  Henry,  Stephen,  earl  of  Mor- 
tagne,  usurped  the  throne  of  England,  the  Scottish  king 
commenced  war  for  the  purpose  of  displacing  him.  But  the 
forces  of  David  I.  were  of  a  character  unusually  tumultuary, 
and  afforded  a  curious  specimen  of  the  miscellaneous  tribes 
which,  long  mixing  without  incorporating,  at  length  formed 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  41 

the  source  from  which  the  Scottish  people  of  modern  times 
derive  their  descent.  '  *  That  accursed  army, ' '  says  the  monk- 
ish chronicler,  so  stigmatizing  David's  troops  on  account  of 
their  horrible  excesses,  "consisted  of  Normans,  Germans,  and 
English,  of  Cumbrian  Britons,  of  Northumbrians,  of  men  of 
Teviotdale  and  Lothian,  of  Picts,  commonly  called  men  of 
Galloway,  and  of  Scots."  Differing  from  each  other  in  cus- 
toms, and  in  a  certain  measure  in  language,  these  various 
nations  seem  only  to  have  agreed  in  the  general  use  of  the 
utmost  license  and  cruelty,  which  the  English  historians 
candidly  admit  was  restrained  as  much  as  possible  by  the 
regulations  of  their  monarch. 

Stephen  marched  northward  to  repel  David  and  his  mis- 
cellaneous host;  but  the  war  languished,  and  gave  place  to 
a  succession  of  truces  and  hollow  treaties,  which  were  made 
and  broken  without  much  ceremony.  The  parties  were,  per- 
haps, more  equally  balanced  than  a  Scottish  and  an  English 
king  had  been  either  before  or  after.  The  want  of  discipline 
in  David's  army  was  compensated  by  the  treachery  subsist- 
ing hi  that  of  Stephen,  which  every  now  and  then  showed 
itself  by  the  revolt  of  some  of  his  barons.  Stephen  tried  to 
obtain  peace  with  Scotland  by  surrender  of  the  open  country 
in  Northumberland  and  Cumberland,  retaining,  however, 
the  castles  and  strong  places,  by  means  of  which  the  ter- 
ritory which  he  now  ceded  could,  in  a  more  favorable  mo- 
ment, be  speedily  recovered.  David  was  awake  to  this  pol- 
icy, and,  well  aware  his  single  force  was  unequal  to  placing 
Matilda  on  the  throne,  he,  with  the  usual  policy  of  auxilia- 
ries, made  it  his  object  to  gain  what  enlargement  of  territo- 
ries he  could,  either  by  conquest  or  cession,  though  the  price 
should  be  his  forsaking  the  cause  in  which  he  had  taken 
up  arms.  For  this  purpose,  he  invaded  Northumberland,  in 
1138,  at  a  time  when  Stephen  was  so  hard  pressed  in  the 
south  that  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  northern  barons 
to  their  own  defence.  These  brave  men,  however,  despised 
submission  to  an  invader;  or,  whatever  deference  some  of 
them  might  be  disposed  to  render  to  the  king  of  Scots'  per- 


42  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

sonal  merits,  the  atrocities  of  the  Galwegians  and  other 
barbarous  tribes  in  David's  army  roused  every  hand  in  oppo- 
sition to  such  an  army  and  its  leader.  Thurstan,  archbishop 
of  York,  a  prelate  of  equal  prudence  and  spirit,  summoned 
a  convention  of  the  English  northern  barons,  and  exhorted 
them  to  determined  resistance.  Age  and  boyhood  were 
called  to  the  combat.  Roger  de  Mowbray,  almost  a  child, 
was  brought  to  the  English  host,  and  placed  at  the  head  of 
his  numerous  vassals.  "Walter  1'Espec,  an  aged  baron  of 
great  fame  in  war,  was  chosen  general-in-chief .  A  standard 
was  erected  in  the  camp,  being  the  mast  of  a  ship  fixed  on  a 
four-wheeled  carriage,  from  which  were  displayed  the  ban- 
ners of  Saint  Peter  of  York,  Saint  John  of  Beverley,  and 
Saint  "Wilfred  of  Rippon.  On  the  top,  and  surrounded  by 
these  ensigns,  was  a  casket  or  pyx,  containing  a  consecrated 
host.  The  displaying  of  this  standard  served  to  give  a  sacred 
character  to  the  war,  and  was  the  more  appropriate,  as  the 
struggle  was  with  the  Galwegians,  a  barbarous  people,  as 
sacrilegious  as  they  were  bloodthirsty  and  inhuman.  "With 
this  apparatus  of  religion  mixed  with  war,  the  barons 
advanced  to  Northallerton. 

David  had  moved  toward  the  same  point,  and  not  with- 
out gaining  considerable  success.  William,  the  son  of  that 
Duncan,  natural  brother  of  David,  who  had  expelled  Donald 
Bane  from  the  Scottish  throne  in  1094,  was  a  distinguished 
leader  in  his  uncle's  army.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  chief 
of  military  talent,  and  was  employed  by  David  in  command- 
ing the  Galwegians  so  often  mentioned.  On  this  occasion 
he  led  a  large  body  of  these  wild  men  into  Lancashire,  and 
defeated  a  considerable  English  army  at  a  place  called 
Clitherow,  near  the  sources  of  the  Ribble.  From  thence 
William  Mac  Duncan  conducted  them  to  join  King  David 
at  Northallerton,  loaded  as  they  were  with  spoil  and  elated 
with  additional  presumption. 

David,  thus  reinforced,  moved  forward  with  such  celerity 
that  he  had  wellnigh  surprised  the  English  army,  who  were 
encamped  on  Cuton  Moor.  Robert  de  Bruce,  an  aged  Nor- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  43 

man  baron,  familiar  with  the  king,  and  holding,  as  many 
others  did,  lands  in  both  kingdoms,  was  despatched  from 
the  English  camp  to  negotiate  with  David,  at  least  to  gam 
time.  This  old  warrior  objected  to  the  king  the  impolicy 
and  unkindness  of  oppressing  the  English  and  Normans, 
whose  arms  had  often  supported  the  Scottish  throne.  He 
argued  with  him  upon  the  unchivalrous  and  unchristian 
atrocities  of  his  soldiers,  and  finally  surrendering  the  land 
which  he  held  of  David,  he  renounced  all  homage  to  him, 
and  declared  himself  his  enemy.  Bernard  de  Baliol,  a  York- 
shire baron  in  like  circumstances,  made  a  similar  renuncia- 
tion and  defiance.  Bruce  and  the  king  wept  as  they  parted. 
"William,  the  son  of  Duncan,  called  Bruce  a  false  traitor. 

Another  characteristic  scene  took  place  in  a  council  of 
war  held  in  the  Scottish  camp  on  the  same  evening,  to  pre- 
pare for  the  battle  of  the  next  day.  The  king  had  deter- 
mined that  the  action  should  be  begun  by  the  archers  and 
men-at-arms,  who  composed  the  regular  strength  of  his 
army.  But  the  Galwegians,  presumptuous  from  their  late 
success,  were  determined  on  leading  the  van,  though  it  is 
not  easy  to  guess  by  what  alleged  right  they  supported  such 
a  pretension.  "Whence  this  confidence  in  these  men  cased 
in  mail?"  said  a  Celtic  chief,  Malise,  earl  of  Stratherne:  "I 
wear  none ;  yet  will  I  advance  further  to-morrow  than  those 
who  are  sheathed  in  steel."  Alan  de  Percy,  a  natural 
brother  of  the  great  baron  of  that  name,  and  a  follower  of 
David,  replied  that  Malise  said  more  than  he  would  dare 
to  make  good.  David  interfered  to  put  an  end  to  the  dis- 
pute, and  yielded,  though  unwillingly,  to  the  claim  of  the 
Galwegians. 

On  the  fated  morning  of  August  22,  1138,  both  armies 
drew  up.  The  English  were  in  one  compact  body,  with 
their  cavalry  in  the  rear.  Ihe  Scottish  army  formed  three 
lines.  In  the  first  were  the  Galwegians,  under  their  leaders, 
Ulgrick  and  Dovenald.  The  second  line  was  commanded 
by  David's  son,  Prince  Henry,  and  consisted  of  the  men- 
at-arms  and  the  archers,  with  the  men  of  Cumberland  and 


44  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

Teviotdale,  both  of  the  ancient  stock  of  Britons.  The  men 
of  Lothian  and  the  Hebrideans  formed  the  third  body ;  and 
a  reserve,  consisting  of  selected  English  and  Normans,  with 
the  Scots  properly  called  so,  and  the  Moray  men,  who  were 
chiefly  of  Scandinavian  descent,  completed  the  order  of 
battle.  Here  David  himself  took  his  station. 

The  English  in  the  meantime  received  the  blessing  of  the 
aged  Thurstan,  conferred  by  his  delegate  the  titular  bishop 
of  the  Orkneys,  and  swore  to  each  other  to  be  victorious 
or  die.  The  Galwegians  rushed  on  with  a  hideous  cry  of 
Albanigh!  Albanigh!1  and  staggered  the  phalanx  of  spear- 
men, on  whom  they  threw  themselves  with  incredible  fury. 
The  severe  and  unremitting  discharge  of  the  English  archery 
was,  however,  unsupportable  by  naked  men,  and  the  Gal- 
wegians were  about  to  leave  the  field,  when  Prince  Henry 
came  up  with  the  Scots  men-at-arms  in  full  career,  and  dis- 
persed "like  a  spider's  web"  that  part  of  the  English  army 
which  was  opposed  to  him.  The  Galwegians  had  begun  to 
rally,  and  the  battle  was  renewed  with  fury,  when  a  report 
flew  through  both  armies  that  David  had  fallen.  It  was  in 
vain  that  the  king  flew  helmetless  through  the  ranks,  im- 
ploring the  soldiers  to  rally  and  stand  by  him.  Order  could 
not  be  restored,  and  he  was  at  length  forced  from  the  field 
to  secure  his  personal  safety.  The  king  availed  himself  of 
the  humiliation  of  the  Galwegians  to  introduce  some  human- 
ity into  his  army  of  barbarians,  and  to  draw  the  reins  of 
discipline  more  tight. 

It  is  obvious  from  this  whole  narrative  that  the  battle  of 
Cuton  Moor,  or  Northallerton,  was  a  well-disputed,  and  for 
some  time  a  doubtful  action ;  and  though  its  immediate  con- 
sequences seem  less  important,  the  remote  effects  of  the  vic- 
tory decided  much  in  favor  of  England.  David,  victorious 

1  By  this  they  meant  to  announce  themselves  as  descended  from  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Scotland,  called  of  old  Albyn  and  Albania, 
When  they  were  repulsed,  the  English  called  in  scorn,  Eyrych,  Eyrych, 
"You  are  but  Irish,"  which,  indeed,  must  have  been  true  of  that  part 
of  the  Galwegians  called  the  wild  Scots  of  Galloway,  who  are  undoubt- 
edly Scotch  Irish. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  45 

at  Cuton  Moor,  might  have  assured  to  himself  and  his  pos- 
terity the  north  of  England,  as  far  as  the  Trent  and  Humber; 
and  what  influential  importance  that  must  have  given  to  a 
Scottish  monarch  in  future  wars  can  only  be  matter  of  con- 
jecture, or  must  rather  have  depended  on  the  character  and 
talents  of  David's  successors. 

Even  amid  all  the  pride  of  victory,  Stephen  consented,  in 
1139,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  to  surrender  to  Prince  Henry  of 
Scotland  the  whole  earldom  of  Northumberland,  with  the 
exception  of  the  castles  of  Newcastle  and  Bamborough,  by 
means  of  which  the  English  monarch  retained  the  means 
of  recovering  the  whole  province  when  time  should  serve. 
After  this  peace  of  Durham,  as  it  was  called,  David  appears 
to  have  gone  to  London,  in  1141,  to  share  the  short-lived  tri- 
umph of  his  niece  Matilda.  But  this  was  the  visit  of  a  rela- 
tion and  friend,  and  not  that  of  an  ally.  The  Scottish  king 
found  the  royal  lady  ill-disposed  to  receive  the  lessons  of 
calmness  and  moderation  which  his  experience  recom- 
mended, and  returned  to  his  own  country  hi  disgust, 
leaving  his  niece  to  her  fortunes. 

In  1152  Scotland  lost  a  treasure  by  the  death  of  the  in- 
estimable Prince  Henry.  He  left  by  Ada,  an  English  lady 
of  quality,  a  family  of  three  sons  and  as  many  daughters. 

In  the  subsequent  year  the  venerable  David  followed  his 
son.  Having  discharged  all  his  duty  as  a  man  and  a  mon- 
arch, by  settling  his  affairs  as  well  as  the  early  age  of  his 
grandchildren  would  permit,  he  was  found  dead  hi  an  atti- 
tude of  devotion,  24th  May,  1153. 

That  extensive  liberality  to  the  Church  which  procured 
David's  admission  into  the  ample  roll  of  Romish  saints, 
made  rather  an  unfavorable  impression  on  his  successors. 
"He  kythed,"  said  James  the  First,  "a  sair  saint  to  the 
crowne."  If  indeed  we  contemplate  with  modern  eyes  the 
munificent  foundations  of  Kelso,  Melrose,  Holyrood  House, 
Jedburgh,  Newbottle,  Kinloss,  Dryburgh,  etc.,  we  may  be 
disposed  to  consider  David's  liberality  to  the  Church  as 
nearly  allied  to  wasteful  extravagance.  But  it  is  to  be  con- 


46  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

sidered  that  the  monks  were  the  only  preservers  of  the  little 
learning  of  the  time ;  that  they  were  exclusively  possessed  of 
the  knowledge  of  literature,  the  arts  of  staining  glass,  gar- 
dening, and  mechanics ;  that  they  taught  religion  to  all,  and 
some  touch  of  useful  learning  to  the  children  of  the  nobility. 
These  things  kept  in  view,  it  will  not  seem  strange  that  a 
patriot  king  should  desire  to  multiply  the  number  of  com- 
munities so  much  calculated  to  aid  civilization.  Let  it  be 
remembered,  also,  that  the  monks  were  agriculturists;  that 
their  vassals  and  bondmen  were  proverbially  said  to  live 
well  under  the  crosier;  that  though  these  ecclesiastics  are 
generally  alleged  to  have  chosen  the  best  of  the  land,  its 
present  superiority  is  often  owing  to  their  own  better  skill 
of  cultivation.  The  convents,  besides,  afforded  travellers 
the  only  means  of  refuge  and  support  which  were  to  be 
found  in  the  country,  and  constituted  the  sole  fund  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  poor  and  infirm.  Lastly,  as  the  sacred 
territory  gifted  to  the  Church  escaped  on  common  occasions 
the  ravages  of  war,  there  seems  much  reason  for  excusing  a 
liberality  which  placed  so  much  fertile  land,  with  its  produce, 
beyond  the  reach  of  military  devastation.  It  was,  perhaps, 
with  this  view  that  King  David  endowed  so  many  convents 
upon  the  borders  so  peculiarly  exposed  to  suffer  by  war. 

In  other  respects,  the  prudence  and  kingly  virtues  of 
David  I.  are  unimpeachable.  Buchanan,  no  favorer  of 
royalty,  has  left  his  testimony,  that  the  life  of  this  monarch 
affords  the  perfect  example  of  a  good  and  patriot  king.  He 
was  constant  and  active  in  the  distribution  of  justice,  was 
merciful  and  beneficent  in  peace,  valiant  and  skilful  in  war. 
He  wept  over  the  horrors  committed  by  his  lawless  armies, 
and  endeavored  to  atone  for  what  he  could  not  prevent,  by 
presents  to  the  churches  which  suffered.  Nay,  so  great  was 
his  remorse  for  the  crimes  they  had  committed  under  his 
rule,  that  it  is  said  the  king  of  Scotland  entertained  thoughts 
of  going  a  pilgrimage  to  Palestine,  and  dedicating  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  to  combating  the  Saracens.  But  he  was 
withheld  from  his  purpose  by  a  more  rational  consideration 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  47 

of  the  duty  he  owed  to  his  subjects.  It  is  also  recorded  of 
David,  that,  loving  pleasure  like  other  men,  he  was  always 
ready  to  postpone  it  to  duty.  If  his  hounds  were  drawn  out, 
his  courser  mounted,  and  all  prepared  for  the  enjoyment  of 
the  chase,  the  voice  of  a  poor  man  requiring  justice  at  his 
hand  was  sufficient  to  postpone  the  amusement,  though  the 
king  was  passionately  fond  of  it,  until  he  had  heard  and 
answered  the  petition  of  the  suppliant. 

In  point  of  civilization,  the  character  and  habits  of  David 
were  highly  favorable  to  the  advance  of  those  schemes  which 
his  father  Malcolm  Cean-mohr  had  formed,  with  the  assist- 
ance perhaps  of  his  sainted  queen.  In  choosing  his  residence, 
Malcolm  had  pitched  upon  Dunfermline,  being  the  very 
verge  of  his  kingdom,  as  far  as  it  was  properly  Scottish. 
David,  in  imitation  of  his  father,  Malcolm  Cean-mohr, 
pushed  southward  across  the  broad  firth,  and  was,  it  would 
seem,  the  first  Scottish  king  who  sometimes  resided  at  Edin- 
burgh, which,  from  its  strong  fortress  and  neighboring  sea- 
port, was  now  become  a  place  of  consideration,  and  where 
he  founded  the  abbey  of  Holy  Rood,  afterward  the  royal 
residence  of  the  monarchs  of  Scotland.  This  choice  of  abode 
placed  him  hi  frequent  contact  with  the  only  province  of 
his  kingdom  in  which  English  was  constantly  spoken,  led 
to  the  frequent  use  of  that  language  in  his  court,  and  to 
the  increase  of  the  civilization  with  which  he  had  become 

» 

acquainted  during  his  education  in  England. 


48  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  IV 

Malcolm  IV.— William  the  Lion:  his  Captivity— Treaty  of  Falaise: 
Abrogated  by  Richard  I. — Death  and  Character  of  William — 
Alexander  II.:  his  Death 


M 


ALCOLM  IV.,  at  the  age  of  twelve  years,  succeeded 
to  his  excellent  grandfather,  David  I.,  1153.  Being 
a  Celtic  prince,  succeeding  to  a  people  of  whom  the 
great  proportion  were  Celts,  he  was  inaugurated  at  Scone 
with  the  peculiar  ceremonies  belonging  to  the  Scoto-Irish 
race.  In  compliance  with  their  ancient  customs,  he  was 
placed  upon  a  fated  stone,  dedicated  to  this  solemn  use,  and 
brought  for  that  purpose  from  Ireland  by  Fergus,  the  son 
of  Eric.  An  Iro-Scottish  or  Highland  bard  also  stepped 
forward,  and  chanted  to  the  people  a  Gaelic  poem,  contain- 
ing the  catalogue  of  the  young  king's  ancestors,  from  the 
reign  of  the  same  Fergus,  founder  of  the  dynasty.1  The 
poem  has  been  fortunately  preserved,  and  must  not  be  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  one  of  Gibber's  birthday  odes.  On 
the  contrary,  it  was  an  exposition  from  the  king  to  the 
people  of  the  royal  descent,  in  virtue  of  which  he  claimed 
their  obedience,  and  bears  a  sufficiently  accurate  conformity 
with  other  meagre  documents  on  the  same  subject,  to  enable 
modern  antiquaries,  by  comparing  the  lists,  to  form  a  reg- 
ular catalogue  of  these  barbarous  kings  or  kinglets  of  the 
Dalriadic  race. 

1  The  Celtic  bard  was  usually  a  genealogist  or  scannachie,  and  the 
display  of  his  talents  was  often  exhibited  in  the  recital  of  versified  pedi- 
grees. In  a  burlesque  poem,  called  the  Howlat,  such  a  character  is  in- 
troduced in  ridicule.  It  was  written  in  the  reign  of  James  II.,  when  all 
reverence  for  the  bardic  profession  was  lost,  at  least  in  the  lowlands.— 
See  the  Bannatyne  edition  of  this  ancient  poem. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  49 

In  Malcolm's  reign  the  lords  of  the  Hebridean  islands, 
who  were  in  a  state  of  independence,  scarcely  acknowledg- 
ing even  a  nominal  allegiance  either  to  the  crown  of  Scot- 
land or  that  of  Norway,  though  claimed  by  both  countries, 
began  to  give  much  annoyance  to  the  western  coasts  of 
Scotland,  to  which  their  light-armed  galleys  or  birlins,  and 
their  habits  of  piracy,  gave  great  facilities.  Somerled  was 
at  this  time  lord  of  the  isles,  and  a  frequent  leader  in  such 
incursions.  Peace  was  made  with  this  turbulent  chief  in 
1153;  but  in  1164,  ten  years  after,  Somerled  was  again 
in  arms,  and  fell,  attempting  a  descent  at  Renfrew. 

Malcolm  IV. 's  transactions  with  Henry  of  England  were 
of  greater  moment.  Henry  (second  of  the  name)  had  sworn 
(in  1149)  that  if  he  ever  gained  the  English  crown  he  would 
put  the  Scottish  king  in  possession  of  Carlisle,  and  of  all  the 
country  lying  between  Tweed  and  Tyne ;  but,  when  securely 
seated  on  the  throne,  instead  of  fulfilling  his  obligation,  he 
endeavored  to  deprive  Malcolm  of  such  possessions  in  the 
northern  counties  as  yet  remained  to  him,  forgetting  his 
obligations  to  his  great-uncle  David,  and  his  relationship 
to  the  young  king  his  grandson.  The  youth  and  inexperi- 
ence of  Malcolm  seem  on  this  occasion  to  have  been  circum- 
vented by  the  sagacity  of  Henry,  who  was  besides,  in  point 
of  power,  greatly  superior  to  the  young  Scots  prince.  In- 
deed, it  would  appear  that  the  English  sovereign  had 
acquired  a  personal  influence  over  his  kinsman,  of  which 
his  Scottish  subjects  had  reason  to  be  jealous.  Malcolm 
yielded  up  to  Henry  all  his  possessions  in  Cumberland  and 
Northumberland ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  his  grand- 
father David  had  not  been  able  to  retain  them  with  any 
secure  hold,  even  when  England  was  distracted  with  the 
civil  wars  of  Stephen  and  Matilda,  it  must  be  owned  that 
his  descendant,  opposed  to  Henry  II.  in  his  plenitude  of 
undisputed  power,  had  little  chance  to  make  his  claim  good. 
He  also  did  homage  for  Lothian,  to  the  great  scandal  of 
Scottish  historians,  who,  conceiving  his  doing  so  affected 
the  question  of  Scottish  independence,  are  much  disposed 
3  •%  VOL.  I. 


50  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

to  find  the  Lothian,  for  which  the  homage  was  rendered, 
in  Leeds  or  some  other  place,  different  from  the  real  Lothian, 
which  they  considered  as  an  original  part  of  Scotland.  But 
this  arises  from  their  entertaining  the  erroneous  opinion  that 
Lothian  bore,  in  Malcolm  the  Fourth's  time,  the  same  char- 
acter of  an  integral  part  of  Scotland  which  it  has  long  exhib- 
ited. Homage  was  done  by  the  Scottish  kings  for  Lothian, 
simply  because  it  had  been  a  part  or  moiety  of  Northumber- 
land, ceded  by  Eadulf-Cudel,  a  Saxon  earl  of  Northum- 
berland, to  Malcolm  II.,  on  condition  of  amity  and  support 
in  war,  for  which,  as  feudal  institutions  gained  ground, 
feudal  homage  was  the  natural  substitute  and  emblem.1 

Besides  the  cession  of  his  Northumbrian  possessions,  Mal- 
colm seems  to  have  attached  himself  to  Henry  II.  personally, 
and  to  have  cultivated  a  sort  of  intimacy  which,  when  it 
exists  between  a  powerful  and  a  weaker  prince,  seldom  fails 
to  be  dangerous  to  the  independence  of  the  latter.  The 
Scottish  king  was  knighted  by  Henry,  in  1159,  and  attended 
and  served  in  his  campaigns  in  France,  till  he  was  recalled 
by  the  formal  remonstrances  of  his  subjects,  who  declared 
they  would  not  permit  English  influence  to  predominate  in 
their  councils.  In  1160,  Malcolm's  return  and  presence 
quelled  a  dissatisfaction  which  had  wellnigh  broken  out 
into  open  mutiny.  He  was  also  successful  in  putting  down 
insurrections  in  the  detached  and  half -independent  provinces 
of  Galloway  and  Moray.  Malcolm  IV.  died  in  1165,  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty-four  years.  Though  brave  in  battle,  he 
seems  from  his  intercourse  with  Henry  to  have  been  flexible 
and  yielding  in  council,  to  which,  with  some  effeminacy  of 
exterior  and  shyness  of  manners,  must  be  attributed  his 
historical  epithet  of  Malcolm  the  Maiden.  It  could  not  be 
owing,  as  alleged  by  monkish  writers,  to  his  strict  continence, 
since  it  is  now  certain  that  he  had  at  least  one  natural  son. 

William,  brother  of  Malcolm  IV.,  succeeded  him,  and 
was  crowned  in  1166.  He  instantly  solicited  from  Henry 

1  See  page  29. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  tfl 

the  restitution  of  Northumberland,  and,  disgusted  with  the 
English  monarch  when  it  was  refused  him,  opened  a  negotia- 
tion with  France,  being  the  first  authentic  account  of  that 
intercourse  between  the  countries  which  an  idle  legend  im- 
putes to  a  league  between  Achay  or  Achaius,  king  of  Scots, 
and  the  celebrated  Charlemagne,  and  by  which  the  latter 
monarch  is  idly  said  to  have  taken  into  his  pay  a  body  of 
Scottish  mercenaries. 

The  declared  enemy  of  England,  William  took  advantage 
of  the  family  discords  of  Henry  II.  to  lend  that  prince's  son 
Richard  assistance  against  his  father.  The  Scottish  king 
obtained  from  the  insurgent  prince  a  grant-  of  the  earldom 
of  Northumberland  as  far  as  the  Tyne.  Willing  to  merit 
this  munificence  on  the  part  of  Richard,  William  in  1173 
invaded  Northumberland  without  any  marked  success.  In 
the  subsequent  year  he  renewed  the  attempt,  which  termi- 
nated most  disastrously.  The  Scottish  king  had  stationed 
himself  before  Alnwick,  a  fortress  fatal  to  his  family,  and 
was  watching  the  motions  of  the  garrison,  while  his  numer- 
ous and  disorderly  army  plundered  the  country.  Meantime 
a  band  of  those  northern  barons  of  England,  whose  ancestors 
had  gained  the  battle  of  the  standard,  had  arrived  at  New- 
castle, and  sallied  out  to  scour  the  country.  They  made 
about  four  hundred  horsemen,  and  had  ridden  out  upon 
adventure,  concealed  by  a  heavy  morning  mist.  A  retreat 
was  advised,  as  they  became  uncertain  of  their  way;  but 
Bernard  de  Baliol  exclaimed,  that  should  they  all  turn 
bridle,  he  alone  would  go  on  and  preserve  his  honor.  They 
advanced,  accordingly,  somewhat  at  random.  The  mist 
suddenly  cleared  away,  and  they  discovered  the  battlements 
of  Alnwick,  and  found  themselves  close  to  a  body  of  about 
sixty  horse,  with  whom  William,  the  Scottish  king,  was 
patrolling  the  country.  At  first  he  took  the  English  for  a 
part  of  his  own  army,  and  when  undeceived,  said  boldly, 
"Now  shall  we  see  who  are  good  knights,"  and  charged  at 
the  head  of  his  handful  of  followers.  He  was  unhorsed  and 
made  prisoner,  with  divers  of  his  principal  followers.  The 


52  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

northern  barons,  afraid  of  a  rescue  from  the  numerous  Scot- 
tish army,  retreated  with  all  speed  to  Newcastle,  bearing  with 
them  their  royal  captive.  William  was  presented  to  Henry 
at  Northampton  with  his  legs  tied  beneath  the  horse's  belly; 
unworthy  usage  for  a  captive  prince,  the  near  relation  of  his 
victor.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  William's 
interference  in  the  domestic  quarrels  of  his  family  must  have 
greatly  incensed  Henry  against  him,  and  that  it  was  not  a 
time  when  men  were  scrupulous  in  their  mode  of  expressing 
resentment. 

We  may  reasonably  suppose  that,  with  such  vindictive 
feelings  toward"  his  prisoner,  Henry  II.  was  not  likely  to 
part  with  him  unless  upon  the  most  severe  terms.  And  the 
loss  of  the  king  was  so  complete  a  derangement  of  the  system 
of  government,  as  it  then  existed  in  Scotland,  that  the  Scot- 
tish nobility  and  clergy  consented  that,  in  order  to  obtain  his 
freedom,  William  should  become  the  liegeman  of  Henry,  and 
do  homage  for  Scotland  and  all  his  other  territories.  Before 
this  disgraceful  treaty,  which  was  concluded  at  Falaise  in 
Normandy,  in  December,  1174,  the  kings  of  England  had  not 
the  semblance  of  a  right  to  exact  homage  for  a  single  inch 
of  Scottish  ground,  Lothian  alone  excepted,  which  was  ceded 
to  Malcolm  II.,  as  has  been  repeatedly  mentioned,  by  grant 
of  the  Northumbrian  earl  Eadulf .  All  the  other  component 
parts  of  what  is  now  termed  Scotland  had  come  to  the 
crown  of  that  kingdom  by  right  of  conquest,  without  having 
been  dependent  on  England  in  any  point  of  view.  The  Pict- 
ish  territories  had  been  united  to  those  of  the  Scots  by  the 
victories  of  Kenneth  Macalpine.  Moray  had  reverted  to 
the  Scottish  crown  by  the  success  of  Malcolm  II.  in  repell- 
ing the  Danes.  Galloway  had  also  been  reduced  to  the 
Scottish  sway  without  the  aid  or  intervention  of  England; 
and  Strath-Clyde  was  subjected  under  like  circumstances. 
A  feudal  dependence  could  only  have  been  created  by  ces- 
sion of  land  which  had  originally  been  English,  or  by  restor- 
ing that  which  had  been  conquered  from  Scotland.  But 
England  could  have  no  title  to  homage  for  provinces  which, 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  53 

having  never  possessed,  England  could  not  cede,  and  having 
never  conquered,  could  not  restore. 

Now,  however,  by  the  treaty  of  Falaise,  the  king  of 
England  was  declared  lord  paramount  of  the  whole  king- 
dom of  Scotland;  a  miserable  example  of  that  impatience 
which  too  often  characterized  the  Scottish  councils. 

An  attempt  was  made  at  the  same  time  to  subject  the 
Scottish  Church  to  that  of  England,  by  a  clause  in  the  same 
treaty,  declaring  that  the  former  should  be  bound  to  the 
latter  in  such  subjection  as  had  been  due  and  paid  of  old 
time,  and  that  the  English  Church  should  enjoy  that  suprem- 
acy which  in  justice  she  ought  to  possess.  The  Scottish 
churchmen  explained  this  provision,  which  was  formed  with 
studied  ambiguity,  as  leaving  the  whole  question  entire, 
since  they  alleged  that  no  supremacy  had  been  yielded  in 
former  times,  and  that  none  was  justly  due.  But  the  civil 
article  of  submission  was  more  carefully  worded;  and  the 
principal  castles  in  the  realm,  Roxburgh,  Berwick,  Jed- 
burgh,  Edinburgh,  and  Stirling,  were  put  in  Henry's  hands, 
as  pledges  for  the  execution  of  the  treaty  of  Falaise ;  while 
the  king's  brother,  David,  earl  of  Huntingdon,  and  many 
Scottish  nobles,  were  surrendered  as  hostages  to  the  same 
effect.  Homage  for  broad  Scotland  was  in  fact  rendered  at 
York,  according  to  the  tenor  of  ihe  treaty,  and  the  king's 
personal  freedom  was  then  obtained. 

"William  had  surrendered  the  independence  of  his  kingdom 
in  ill-advised  eagerness  to  recover  his  personal  freedom ;  but 
he  maintained  with  better  spirit  the  franchises  of  the  Church. 
In  a  disputed  election  (1181)  for  the  archbishopric  of  St.  An- 
drew's, he  opposed  with  steadiness  and  constancy  the  induc- 
tion of  John,  called  the  Scot,  who  was  patronized  by  the  pope, 
Alexander  III.  The  kingdom  of  Scotland  was  laid  under  an 
interdict;  but  William  remained  unshaken;  and  a  new  pope, 
willing  to  compromise  the  matter,  gave  way  to  the  king's 
pleasure,  and  recalled  the  excommunication.  In  1188,  Pope 
Clement  III.  formally  ratified  the  privileges  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  as  a  daughter  of,  and  immediately  subject  to.  Home, 


54  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

and  declared  that  no  sentence  of  excommunication  should  be 
pronounced  there  save  by  his  holiness  or  his  legate  a  latere, 
such  legate  being  a  Scottish  subject,  or  one  specially  deputed 
out  of  the  sacred  college.  These  were  the  principal  transac- 
tions of  William's  reign  after  his  release  till  the  death  of 
Henry  II.  of  England,  omitting  only  some  savage  transac- 
tions in  Galloway,  which  argued  the  total  barbarity  of  the 
inhabitants. 

The  frontier  castles  of  Roxburgh  and  Berwick  still  re- 
mained in  possession  of  the  English  at  the  death  of  Henry 
II.  On  the  succession  of  his  son,  Richard  Coaur  de  Lion,  a 
remarkable  treaty  was  entered  into  between  the  kings  and 
nations,  by  which,  after  a  personal  interview  with  William, 
at  Canterbury,  Richard  renounced  all  right  of  superiority  or 
homage  which  had  been  extorted  from  William  during  his 
captivity,  and  re-established  the  borders  of  the  two  king- 
doms as  they  had  been  at  the  time  of  William's  misfortune; 
reserving  to  England  such  homage  as  Malcolm,  the  elder 
brother  of  William,  had  paid,  or  was  bound  to  have  ren- 
dered; and  thus  replacing  Scotland  fully  in  the  situation  of 
national  independence  resigned  by  the  treaty  of  Falaise.  All 
claims  of  homage  due  to  England  before  that  surrender  were 
carefully  reserved,  and  therefore  William  was  still  the  king 
of  England's  vassal  for  Lothian,  for  the  town  of  Berwick, 
and  for  whatever  lands  besides  he  possessed  within  the  realm 
of  England.  The  stipulated  compensation  to  be  paid  by  Scot- 
land for  this  ample  restitution  of  her  national  freedom  was 
ten  thousand  marks  sterling,  a  sum  equal  to  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds  in  the  present  day. 

The  inducements  leading  Richard  to  renounce  the  ad- 
vantages which  his  father  had  acquired  in  the  moment  of 
William's  misfortune  were  manifest:  1.  The  generous  nat- 
ure of  Richard  probably  remembered  that  the  invasion  of 
Northumberland  and  the  battle  of  Alnwick  took  place  in 
consequence  of  a  treaty  between  William  and  himself;  and 
he  might  think  himself  obliged  in  honor  to  relieve  his  ally 
of  some  part,  at  least,  of  the  ill  consequences  which  had  fol- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  55 

lowed  his  ill-fated  attempt  to  carry  into  effect  their  agree- 
ment. This  was,  indeed,  an  argument  which  monarchs  of 
a  selfish  disposition  would  not  have  been  willing  to  admit ; 
but  it  was  calculated  to  affect  the  chivalrous  and  generous 
feelings  of  Coaur  de  Lion.  2.  Richard  being  on  the  point 
of  embarking  for  the  Holy  Land,  a  large  sum  of  money  was 
of  more  importance  to  him  than  the  barren  claim  of  homage, 
which,  in  effect,  could  never  have  a  real  or  distinct  value  to 
an  English  monarch,  unless  when,  at  some  favorable  oppor- 
tunity, it  could  be  connected  with  a  claim  to  the  property 
as  well  as  the  mere  superiority  of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland. 
3.  It  was  of  the  highest  consequence  that  the  English  king, 
bound  on  a  distant  expedition  with  the  flower  of  his  army, 
should  leave  a  near-bordering  and  warlike  neighbor  rather 
in  the  condition  of  a  grateful  ally  than  of  a  sullen  and  dis- 
contented vassal,  desirous  to  snatch  the  first  opportunity  of 
bursting  his  feudal  fetters,  by  an  exertion  of  violence  similar 
to  that  which  had  imposed  them. 

The  money  stipulated  for  the  redemption  of  the  national 
independence  of  Scotland  was  collected  by  an  aid  granted 
to  the  king  by  the  nobles  and  the  clergy ;  and  there  is  rea- 
son to  think  that,  hi  part  at  least,  the  burden  descended  on 
the  inhabitants  in  the  shape  of  a  capitation  tax.  Two  thou- 
sand marks  remained  due  when  Richard  himself  became  a 
prisoner,  and  were  paid  by  William  in  aid  of  the  lion-hearted 
prince's  ransom,  if  indeed,  which  seems  equally  probable, 
that  sum  was  not  a  generous  and  gratuitous  contribution 
on  the  part  of  the  Scottish  king  toward  the  liberation  of  his 
benefactor. 

Domestic  dissensions  in  his  distant  provinces,  all  of  them 
brought  to  a  happy  conclusion  by  his  skill  and  activity,  are 
the  most  marked  historical  events  in  "William's  after-reign. 
Some  misunderstanding  with  King  John  of  England  occa- 
sioned the  levying  forces  on  both  sides ;  but  by  a  treaty  en- 
tered into  between  the  princes,  the  causes  of  complaint  were 
removed ;  William  agreeing  to  pay  to  John  a  sum  of  fifteen 
thousand  marks  for  goodwill,  it  is  said,  and  for  certain  favor- 


50  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

able  conditions.    "William  died  at  Stirling,  1214,  aged  seventy- 
two,  after  a  long  and  active  reign  of  forty-eight  years. 

William  derived  his  cognomen  of  the  Lion  from  his  be- 
ing the  first  who  adopted  that  animal  as  the  armorial  bear- 
ing of  Scotland.  From  this  emblem  the  chief  of  the  Scottish 
heralds  is  called  the  Lion  king-at-arms.  Chivalry  was  fast 
gaming  ground  in  Scotland  at  this  time,  as  appears  from  the 
importance  attached  by  William  and  his  elder  brother  Mal- 
colm to  the  dignity  of  knighthood,  and  also  from  the  roman- 
tic exclamation  of  William,  when  he  joined  the  unequal  con- 
flict at  Alnwick,  "Now  shall  we  see  the  best  knights." 

William  the  Lion  was  a  legislator,  and  his  laws  are  pre- 
served. He  was  a  strict,  almost  a  severe,  administrator  of 
justice;  but  the  turn  of  the  age  and  the  temper  of  his  sub- 
jects required  that  justice,  which  in  a  more  refined  period 
can  and  ought  to  make  many  distinctions  in  the  classification 
of  crimes,  should  in  barbarous  times  seize  her  harvest  with 
less  selection.  The  blot  of  William's  reign  was  his  rashness 
at  Alnwick,  and  the  precipitation  with  which  he  bartered 
the  independence  of  Scotland  for  his  own  liberty.  But  his 
dexterous  negotiation  with  Richard  I.  enabled  him  to  re- 
cover that  false  step,  and  to  leave  his  kingdom  in  the  same 
condition  in  which  he  found  it.  By  his  wife,  Ermen  garde 
de  Beaumont,  William  had  a  son,  Alexander,  who  succeeded 
to  him.  By  illicit  intrigues  he  left  a  numerous  family. 

Alexander  II. 's  reign,  though  active,  busy,  and  abound- 
ing in  events,  yet  exhibits  few  incidents  of  that  deeply  influ- 
ential character  which  affect  future  ages.  These  events  are 
rather  to  be  considered  in  the  gross  than  in  particular  detail, 
and  we  shall  revert  to  them  hereafter,  only  stating  here  gen- 
erally that  Alexander's  battles  chiefly  took  place  in  endeavor- 
ing to  give  currency  to  the  law  in  those  parts  of  his  kingdom 
which  were  still  Celtic. 

Alexander  had,  in  1216,  a  temporary  quarrel  with  John, 
which  led  to  mutual  depredations;  but  peace  was  restored, 
and,  in  1221,  he  married  the  English  princess  Joan,  who  was 
secured  in  a  jointure  of  one  thousand  pounds  of  landed  rent. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  57 

In  1222,  the  king  was  engaged  in  subduing  a  rebellion  in 
Argyle ;  and,  in  the  same  year,  was  obliged  to  visit  Caith- 
ness, where  the  bishop  had  been  burned  in  his  house  by  con- 
nivance of  the  earl  of  the  same  county.  In  1228  it  was  the 
district  of  Moray  which  was  discontented  and  disturbed  by 
the  achievements  of  one  Gillescop,  who  was  put  down  and 
executed  by  the  efforts  of  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  justiciary  of 
Scotland.  In  1231  Caithness  witnessed  a  second  tragedy 
similar  to  that  of  1228,  only  the  parts  of  the  performers 
were  altered.  It  was  now  the  bishop  or  his  retainers  who 
murdered  the  Earl  of  Caithness  and  burned  his  castle.  This 
called  for  and  received  fresh  chastisement. 

In  1233  new  tumults  arose  among  the  Celtic  inhabitants 
of  Scotland.  Alan,  lord  of  Galloway,  died,  leaving  three 
daughters.  The  king  was  desirous  of  dividing  the  region 
among  them  as  heirs  portioners.  The  inhabitants  with- 
stood, in  arms,  the  partition  of  their  country,  being  re- 
solved it  should  continue  in  the  form  of  a  single  fief.  The 
purpose  of  the  king  was  to  break  the  strength  of  this  great 
principality,  and  create  three  chiefs  who  might  be  naturally 
expected  to  be  more  dependent  on  the  crown  than  a  single 
overgrown  vassal  had  proved  to  be.  Alexander  led  an  army 
against  the  insurgents,  defeated  them,  and  effected  the  pro- 
posed division  of  the  province. 

It  is  to  be  carefully  noted  that  all  these  wars  with  his 
insurgent  Celtic  subjects,  though  maintained  by  the  king  in 
defence  of  the  administration  of  justice  and  authority,  tended 
not  the  less  to  alienate  the  districts  in  which  they  took  place 
from  the  royal  power  and  authority;  and  the  temporary  sub- 
mission of  their  chiefs  was  always  made  with  reluctance,  and 
seldom  with  sincerity. 

In  1249  Alexander  II.  died  in  the  remote  island  of  Ker- 
rera,  in  the  Hebrides,  while  engaged  in  an  expedition  for 
compelling  the  island  chiefs  to  transfer  to  the  Scottish  king 
a  homage  which  some  of  them  had  paid  to  Norway,  as  lord 
paramount  of  the  isles.  He  was  a  wise  and  active  monarch. 
He  showed  his  integrity  by  the  care  and  good  faith  with 


58  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

which  he  protected  the  frontiers  of  England,  when  confided 
to  him,  in  1241,  by  his  contemporary,  Henry  III.  Alexander 
II.  left  no  children  by  his  first  wife,  Princess  Joan.  His  sec- 
ond was  Mary  de  Couci,  a  daughter  of  that  proud  house  who 
on  their  banners  affected  a  motto  disclaiming  the  rank  of 
king.1  By  her  he  had  Alexander  III.,  who,  at  his  father's 
death,  was  a  child  of  eight  years  old. 


1  Je  suis  ni  roi,  ni  prince  aussi— 
Je  suis  le  seigneur  de  Couci. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  59 


Reign  of  Alexander  III.:  his  Death — Ou  the  Race  of  Kings  Succeed- 
ing to  Kenneth  Macalpiue — Nature  of  their  Government  as  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  the  Celts — Grand  Division  of  Scotland 
into  Celtic  and  Gothic;  and  its  Consequences 

EVEN  before  the  death  of  Alexander  II.  some  dispute 
had  taken  place  on  the  old  theme  of  the  homage,  the 
usual  subject  of  contention.  Alexander  refused  to 
submit  to  pay  it,  unless  Northumberland,  for  which  it  was 
rendered,  should  be  restored  to  him.  Henry  III.  compounded 
this  demand  by  settling  on  the  Scottish  king  lands  in  that 
county  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum. 
This,  however,  was  a  consideration  unconnected  with  Scot- 
land ;  and  though  an  inadequate  one,  according  to  our  ideas, 
yet  perfectly  saved  the  question  of  national  independence, 
Henry  thereby  acquiescing  in  the  principle  insisted  upon  by 
the  Scottish  king  and  statesmen,  that  the  acknowledgment 
of  dependence  was  to  be  rendered  for  something  held  in  Eng- 
land. Whether  the  estate  for  which  fealty  was  due  chanced 
to  be  of  great  or  small  value  could  not  affect  the  question, 
since  homage  might  be  rendered  for  a  hamlet  or  a  manor, 
as  well  as  for  a  county  or  kingdom.  The  only  difference 
was,  that  the  less  the  value  of  the  fief,  of  the  smaller  im- 
portance were  the  feudal  prestations,  and  the  consequences 
of  the  feudal  forfeiture  were  less  worthy  of  attention.  Henry 
was  not  yet  satisfied ;  and  the  insinuations  of  Bisset,  a  Scot- 
tish exile,  irritated  him  so  much  against  the  Scottish  king 
that  he  determined  on  an  invasion  of  his  kingdom.  He 
was  met  by  Alexander,  at  the  head  of  a  gallant  army  near 
Ponteland,  in  Westmoreland,  and  a  peace  was  agreed  upon 
without  any  further  discussion  about  the  homage. 


60  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

It  was  clear,  however,  that  the  matter  lay  near  to  the 
heart  of  the  English  sovereign ;  and  no  sooner  was  Alexander 
II.  deceased,  than  Henry  applied  to  the  pope,  praying  him 
to  interdict  the  solemn  coronation  of  Alexander  III.  till  he, 
as  feudal  superior  of  Scotland,  should  give  consent.  The 
Scottish  nobility  heard  of  this  interference,  and  resolved  to 
hasten  the  ceremony.  Some  difficulty  occurred  whether  the 
crown  could  be  placed  on  the  head  of  one  not  yet  dubbed 
knight,  so  essential  was  the  rank  of  chivalry  then  considered 
even  to  the  dignity  of  royalty.  It  was  suggested  by  Comyn, 
earl  of  Monteith,  that  the  bishop  of  Saint  Andrew's  should 
knight  the  king  as  well  as  crown  him;  and  the  proposal  was 
agreed  to.  The  boy  was  made  to  take  the  coronation  oaths 
in  Latin  and  in  Norman-French :  this  was  a  Gothic  part  of 
the  ceremony.  That  the  Scottish  or  Celtic  forms  might  also 
be  complied  with,  a  Highland  bard,  dressed  in  a  scarlet  robe, 
venerable  for  his  hoary  beard  and  locks,  knelt  before  the 
young  king,  while  seated  on  the  fated  stone,  and,  as  at  the 
coronation  of  Malcolm  IV.,  recited  the  royal  genealogy  in  a 
Bet  of  names  that  must  have  sounded  like  an  invocation  of 
the  fiends. 

The  young  king  was,  shortly  after  his  coronation,  married 
to  the  English  princess  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  III. 
In  virtue  of  the  interest  thus  obtained,  Henry  interested 
himself  officiously  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  to  the  great 
offence  of  the  natives.  He  succeeded  in  establishing  a  party 
within  Scotland  in  his  interests,  which  was  strongly  opposed 
by  others  of  the  Scottish  regency;  and  various  struggles 
took  place,  in  which  no  conclusive  superiority  was  obtained 
by  either  party.  The  young  king  of  Scots  showed,  even 
while  a  boy,  much  judgment  and  steadiness  of  character. 
He  repeatedly  visited  the  court  of  his  father-in-law  as  an 
honored  friend  and  relative;  but  testified  while  there  a 
steady  and  honorable  determination  to  transact  no  affairs  of 
state,  by  which  the  honor  of  his  country  or  its  interests  could 
be  compromised,  alleging  that  he  could  not  do  so  without 
the  advice  of  his  national  council.  Peace  was  thus  pre- 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  61 

served,  the  independence  of  Scotland  guarded  from  hazard, 
and  all  possibility  of  taking  advantage  of  Alexander's  youth 
and  inexperience  effectually  averted.  During  one  of  these 
temporary  residences  in  England,  Queen  Margaret  became 
mother  of  a  princess,  who  was  named  after  her  mother.  It 
appears  that  some  of  these  visits  were  made  with  a  view 
to  recover  payment  of  Queen  Margaret's  stipulated  dowry; 
and  so  poor  was  Henry's  exchequer  at  the  time  (1263)  that 
five  hundred  marks  exhausted  its  contents;  and  the  king  of 
England  was  fain  to  take  more  distant  periods  to  pay  the 
remainder  of  the  sum,  being  one  thousand  marks,  still  due. 

Alexander  III.  was  now  a  youth  of  twenty-two  years 
old,  fit  and  capable  to  head  an  army.  It  was  well  he  was 
so,  for  a  formidable  invasion  impended.  This  attack  came 
from  Haco,  king  of  Norway.  That  warlike  prince  had  col- 
lected a  formidable  fleet  and  army,  with  the  determination 
of  supporting  his  interest  in  the  Hebridean  islands,  which 
had  been  gradually  sinking  under  the  efforts  of  the  present 
king  of  Scotland,  who  pursued  the  policy  of  his  father,  in 
compelling  those  island  lords  to  renounce  their  dependence 
on  Norway,  and  hold  their  isles  of  the  Scottish  crown.  The 
fleet  of  Haco  was  freighted  with  many  thousands  of  those 
same  northern  warriors  whose  courage  had  been  felt  as 
irresistible  on  almost  all  the  shores  of  Europe,  and  was 
accounted  the  most  formidable  armament  that  had  ever 
sailed  from  Norway. 

In  1263,  the  king  of  Norse,  with  this  powerful  army, 
arrived  in  the  bay  of  Largs,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Clyde, 
and  attempted  to  effect  a  landing.  The  weather  was  tem- 
pestuous, and  rendered  their  disembarkation  partial,  difficult, 
and  dangerous.  The  Scottish  forces  were  on  foot  and  pre- 
pared. The  Norwegians  persisted  in  their  attempt,  and 
Alexander  and  his  army  made  equal  efforts  to  repulse 
them.  The  Norwegian  historians  have  not  denied  that 
their  host  suffered  much  from  the  sword  of  the  enemy, 
though  they  ascribe  the  total  discomfiture  of  their  under- 
taking to  the  rage  of  the  elements.  The  number  of  de- 


62  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

fenders  daily  increased,  and  the  efforts  of  the  assailants 
diminished;  and  Haco,  after  a  long  and  desperate  perse- 
verance in  attempts  to  land,  at  last  withdrew  from  his  en- 
terprise, and  fled  with  his  shattered  navy  through  the  strait 
between  Skye  and  the  mainland,  which,  since  called  Kyle 
Haken,  still  retains  his  name.  Doubling  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  Scotland,  the  king  of  Norway,  after  much  loss 
and  suffering,  reached  the  islands  of  Orkney,  which  then 
belonged  to  him,  and  yielding  to  the  effects  of  an  exhausted 
constitution,  acted  upon  by  the  mortified  ambition  and 
wounded  pride  of  a  soldier,  died  there  within  a  few  weeks 
after  his  fatal  disaster  at  Largs.  In  consequence  of  this 
decisive  action,  a  treaty  was  entered  into,  by  which  Nor- 
way ceded  to  Alexander  III.  all  islands  in  the  western  sea 
of  Scotland,  and,  indeed,  all  lying  near  to  that  country, 
excepting  those  of  Orkney  and  Shetland,  for  which  resigna- 
tion the  Scottish  king  and  his  estates  covenanted  to  pay  four 
thousand  marks  in  four  several  sums,  and  a  quit-rent  of  one 
hundred  marks  forever. 

In  1281,  the  league  was  drawn  still  closer  by  the  marriage 
of  Eric,  the  young  king  of  Norway,  with  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Alexander  III.,  by  the  English  princess  of  that  name. 
They  had  one  only  child,  named  after  her  mother,  and  called 
in  Scottish  history  the  Maiden  of  Norway,  whose  untimely 
death  forms,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  a  most  gloomy  era  in 
Scottish  history. 

It  is  worth  while  to  notice,  that  some  dispute  having  oc- 
curred between  Alexander  and  his  clergy,  the  papal  legate 
to  England  attempted  to  interfere,  with  the  view  of  levying 
a  contribution  for  the  expense  of  his  mission.  But  the  king 
and  the  Scottish  Church  having  veiy  sagely  terminated  their 
dispute  without  any  need  of  mediation,  resolved,  that,  as  the 
legate's  commission  extended  to  England  only,  he  should 
not  be  permitted  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  or  exer- 
cise authority  there.  In  another  instance,  they  showed  the 
same  firmness.  Pope  Clement  the  Fourth  having  required 
the  Scottish  ecclesiastics  to  pay  to  the  king  of  England  a 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  63 

tenth  part  of  their  benefices,  to  aid  in  the  expense  of  an  in- 
tended crusade,  the  Scottish  Church  held  a  general  council, 
and  resisted  the  demand. 

Scotland  did  not,  however,  escape  the  epidemic  rage  for 
crusades.  A  multitude  of  her  bravest  barons  and  knights 
went  to  Palestine,  and  perished  there. 

Desolation  of  the  worst  kind  began  to  gather  round 
Alexander  III.  His  wife  was  dead.  His  only  surviving 
son  also  died;  another  had  not  survived  childhood.  He 
had  no  issue  remaining  except  the  Maid  of  Norway,  his 
granddaughter,  a  child,  residing  in  a  distant  kingdom.  To 
provide  against  the  evils  of  a  disputed  succession,  for  he  was 
still  a  man  in  the  flower  of  lif  e,  the  Scottish  monarch  mar- 
ried Joleta,  daughter  of  the  count  of  Dreux.  Shortly  after 
the  wedding,  as  he  pressed  homeward  by  a  precipitous  road 
along  the  seacoast,  near  to  Kinghorn,  in  Fife,  his  horse  fell 
from  a  cliff,  and  the  rider  was  killed. 

The  lamentation  was  universal;  the  consequences  were 
anticipated  as  most  disastrous. 

— - — Old  men  and  beldames 

Did  prophesy  about  it  dangerously. 

Thomas  the  Rhymer,  a  poet  and  supposed  prophet,  is 
said  to  have  predicted  the  calamity,  under  the  metaphor  of 
a  tempest  the  most  dreadful  that  Scotland  ever  witnessed. 
Others  recalled  an  evil  omen  which  occurred  during  the 
festivities  of  Alexander's  second  marriage;  a  spectre,  rep- 
resenting Death,  had  closed  a  gallant  procession  of  masks, 
and  being  perhaps  presented  with  too  shocking  an  approach 
to  a  real  skeleton,  had  introduced  grief  and  terror  into  the 
mirth  and  pomp  of  the  bridal  revelry.  This  was  now  con- 
strued into  an  omen  of  the  intense  calamity  which  was  soon 
to  silence  the  public  rejoicings.  The  common  people  vented 
their  sorrows  for  an  excellent  prince  in  simple  but  affecting 
lines,  deploring  his  virtues,  and  anticipating  the  consequences 
of  his  death.  But  neither  poet  nor  seer,  in  their  most  rapt 
and  gloomy  moments,  could  anticipate  half  the  extent  of 


64  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

the  calamity  with  which  the  death  of  Alexander  was  to  be 
followed  in  the  kingdom  which  he  ruled. 

At  this  remarkable  point  in  history,  we  pause  to  contrast 
the  condition  of  Scotland  as  it  stood  in  843,  when  Kenneth 
Macalpine  first  formed  the  Picts  and  Scots  into  one  people, 
and  in  the  year  1286,  when  death  deprived  that  people  of 
their  sovereign,  Alexander  III. 

At  the  earlier  term  we  know  that  the  manners  of  those 
descended  from  the  Dalriads,  Scoto-Irish,  or  pure  Scots, 
properly  so  called,  must  have  been,  as  they  remained  till  a 
much  later  period,  the  same  with  those  of  the  cognate  tribes 
in  Ireland,  the  land  of  their  descent.  Their  constitution  was 
purely  patriarchal,  the  simplest  and  most  primitive  form  of 
government.  The  blood  of  the  original  founder  of  the  fam- 
ily was  held  to  flow  in  the  veins  of  his  successive  represen- 
tatives, and  to  perpetuate  in  each  chief  the  right  of  supreme 
authority  over  the  descendants  of  his  own  line,  who  formed 
his  children  and  subjects,  as  he  became  by  right  of  birth 
their  sovereign  ruler  and  lawgiver.  A  nation  consisted  of 
a  union  of  several  such  tribes,  having  a  single  chief  chosen 
over  them  for  their  general  direction  in  war,  and  umpire  of 
their  disputes  in  peace.  With  the  family  and  blood  of  this 
chief  of  chiefs,  most  of  the  inferior  chieftains  c/aimed  a  con- 
nection more  or  less  remote.  This  supreme  chiefdom,  or 
right  of  sovereignty,  was  hereditary,  in  so  far  as  the  person 
possessing  it  was  chosen  from  the  blood  royal  of  the  king 
deceased;  but  it  was  so  far  elective  that  any  of  his  kinsmen 
might  be  chosen  by  the  nation  to  succeed  him ;  and,  as  the 
office  of  sovereign  could  not  be  exercised  by  a  child,  the 
choice  generally  fell  upon  a  full-grown  man,  the  brother  or 
nephew  of  the  deceased,  instead  of  his  son  or  grandson. 

This  uncertainty  of  succession,  which  prevailed  in  respect 
to  the  crown  itself,  while  Celtic  manners  were  predominant, 
proved  a  constant  source  of  rebellion  and  bloodshed.  The 
postponed  heir,  when  he  arose  in  years,  was  frequently  de- 
sirous to  attain  his  father's  power;  and  many  a  murder  was 
committed  for  the  sake  of  rendering  straight  an  oblique  line 


HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND  65 

of  succession,  which  such  preference  of  an  adult  had  thrown 
out  of  the  direct  course.  A  singular  expedient  was  resorted 
to,  to  prevent  or  diminish  such  evils.  A  sort  of  king  of  the 
Romans,  or  Caesar,  was  chosen  as  the  destined  successor 
while  the  sovereign  chief  was  yet  alive.  He  was  called  the 
Tanist,  and  was  inaugurated  during  the  life  of  the  reigning 
king,  but  with  maimed  rites,  for  he  was  permitted  to  place 
only  one  foot  on  the  fated  stone  of  election.  The  monarch 
had  little  authority  in  the  different  tribes  of  which  the  king- 
dom was  composed,  unless  during  the  time  of  war.  In  war, 
however,  the  king  possessed  arbitrary  power;  and  war,  for- 
eign and  domestic,  was  the  ordinary  condition  of  the  people. 
This,  as  described  by  Malcolm,  is  the  constitution  of  Persia 
at  this  day. 

Such  was  the  government  of  the  Scots  when  the  Picts, 
losing  their  own  name  and  existence,  merged  into  that 
people.  It  does  not  appear  that  there  existed  any  material 
difference  between  the  Pictish  form  of  government  and  that 
of  their  conquerors,  nor  did  such  distinction  occur  in  any  of 
the  other  nations  which  came  to  compose  the  Scottish  king- 
dom, with  the  exception  of  the  Lothians.  Galloway  was 
unquestionably  under  the  dominion  of  patriarchal  chiefs 
and  clans,  as  we  know  from  the  patronymics  current  to 
this  day,  of  which  M'Dougal,  M'Culloch,  M'Kie,  and  other 
races  certainly  not  derived  from  the  Highlands,  ascend  to 
great  antiquity.  Strath-Clyde  was  probably  under  the  same 
species  of  government ;  at  least,  the  clan  system  of  the  Celts 
prevailed  in  the  south  and  eastern  parts  of  the  border  district 
until  the  union  of  the  crowns ;  and  as,  had  it  been  once  dis- 
used, such  a  species  of  rule  could  not  easily  have  been  recon- 
structed, we  are  authorized  to  suppose  that  it  had  flourished 
there  since  the  fall  of  the  British  kingdom.  There  occurs 
a  further  reason  why  it  should  have  been  so.  The  clan,  or 
patriarchal,  system  of  government  was  particularly  calcu- 
lated for  regulating  a  warlike  and  lawless  country,  as  it 
provided  for  decision  of  disputes,  and  for  the  leading  of  the 
inhabitants  to  war,  in  the  easiest  and  most  simple  manner 


66  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

possible.  The  clansmen  submitted  to  the  award  of  the  chief 
in  peace;  they  followed  his  banner  to  battle;  they  aided  him 
with  their  advice  in  council,  and  the  constitution  of  the  tribe 
was  complete.  The  nature  of  a  frontier  country  exposed  it 
in  a  peculiar  degree  to  sudden  danger,  and  therefore  this 
compendious  mode  of  government,  established  there  by  the 
Britons,  was  probably  handed  down  to  later  times,  from  its 
being  specially  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the  situation. 
But  though  the  usage  of  clanship  probably  prevailed  ..there, 
we  are  not  prepared  to  show  that  any  of  the  clans  inhabiting 
the  border  country  carry  back  their  antiquity  into  the  Celtic 
or  British  period.  Their  names  declare  them  of  more 
modern  date. 

Those  various  nations  which  we  have  enumerated  had 
all  a  common  Celtic  descent;  at  least,  it  is  yet  unproved 
that  the  Picts  were  any  other  than  the  ancient  Caledonians, 
who  must  of  course  have  been  Britons.  Their  manners  were 
as  simple  as  their  form  of  government,  exhibiting  the  vices 
and  virtues  of  a  barbarous  state  of  society.  They  were 
brave,  warlike,  and  formidable  as  light  troops;  but,  armed 
with  slender  lances,  unwieldy  swords,  and  bucklers  made 
of  osiers  or  hides,  they  were  ill  qualified  to  sustain  a  length- 
ened conflict  with  the  Norman  warriors,  who  were  regularly 
trained  to  battle,  and  entered  it  in  close  array  and  in  com- 
plete armor.  As  other  barbarians,  the  Celtic  tribes  were 
fickle  and  cruel  at  times,  at  other  times  capable  of  great 
kindness  and  generosity.  Those  who  inhabited  the  moun- 
tains li ved  by  their  herds  and  flocks,  and  by  the  chase.  The 
tribes  who  had  any  portion  of  arable  ground  cultivated  it, 
under  the  direction  of  the  chief,  for  the  benefit  of  the  com- 
munity. As  every  clan  formed  the  epitome  of  a  nation 
within  itself,  plundering  from  each  other  was  a  species  of 
warfare  to  which  no  disgrace  was  attached ;  and  when  the 
mountaineers  sought  their  booty  in  the  low  country,  their 
prey  was  richer,  perhaps,  and  less  stoutly  defended,  than 
when  they  attacked  a  kindred  tribe  of  Highlanders.  The 
lowlands  were  therefore  chiefly  harassed  by  their  incursions. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  67 

The  Picts  seem  to  have  made  some  progress  in  agricul- 
ture, and  to  have  known  something  of  architecture  and 
domestic  arts,  which  are  earliest  improved  in  the  more  fer- 
tile countries.  But  neither  Scots,  Picts,  Galwegians,  nor 
Strath-Clyde  Britons,  seem  to  have  possessed  the  knowledge 
of  writing  or  use  of  the  alphabet.  Three  or  four  different 
nations,  each  subdivided  into  an  endless  variety  of  indepen- 
dent clans,  tribes,  and  families,  were  ill  calculated  to  form 
an  independent  state  so  powerful  as  to  maintain  its  ground 
among  other  nations,  or  defend  its  liberties  against  an  am- 
bitious neighbor.  But  the  fortunate  acquisition  of  the  fer- 
tile province  of  Lothian,  including  all  the  country  between 
the  Tweed  and  Forth,  and  the  judicious  measures  of  Mal- 
colm Cean-mohr  and  his  successors,  formed  the  means  of 
giving  consistency  to  that  which  was  loose,  and  unity  to  that 
which  was  discordant,  in  the  Scottish  government. 

With  some  of  that  craft  which  induced  the  Scottish  pro- 
prietors of  the  Middle  Ages  to  erect  their  castles  on  the  very 
verge  of  their  own  property,  and  opposite  to  the  residences  of 
their  most  powerful  neighbors,  Malcolm  Cean-mohr  fixed  his 
royal  residence  originally  at  Dunfermline,  and  his  successors 
removed  it  to  Edinburgh.  Berwick  and  Dunbar  were  forti- 
fied so  as  to  offer  successful  opposition  to  an  invading  army ; 
and  to  cross  the  Tweed,  which,  in  its  lower  course,  is  seldom 
fordable,  leaving  such  strengths  in  their  rear,  would  have 
been  a  hazardous  attempt  for  an  English  invader,  unless 
at  the  head  of  a  very  considerable  army.  The  possession 
of  Lothian,  whose  population  was  Saxon,  intermingled  with 
Danish,  introduced  to  the  king  of  Scotland  and  his  court  new 
wants,  new  wishes,  new  arts  of  policy,  an  intercourse  with 
other  countries  to  which  they  had  formerly  no  access,  and 
a  new  language  to  express  all  these  new  ideas.  We  have 
noticed  what  willing  reception  Malcolm,  influenced  by  his 
queen,  gave  to  the  emigrant  Saxons  and  Normans,  and  the 
envy  excited  in  the  ancient  genuine  Scots  by  the  favor  ex- 
tended to  these  strangers.  All  the  successors  of  Malcolm 
(excepting  the  Hebridean  savage  Donald  Bane)  were  addicted 


68  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

to  the  same  policy,  and  purchased  knowledge  in  the  way  in 
which  it  is  most  honorably  obtained,  by  benefiting  and 
rewarding  those  who  are  capable  to  impart  it.  Of  the  Nor- 
man barons,  generally  accounted  the  flower  of  Europe,  Scot- 
land received  from  time  to  time  such  numerous  accessions, 
that  they  may  be  said,  with  few  exceptions,  to  form  the 
ancestors  of  the  Scottish  nobility,  and  of  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  families  among  the  gentry;  a  fact  so  well 
known  that  it  is  useless  to  bring  proof  of  it.  These  foreign- 
ers, and  especially  the  Normans  and  Anglo-Normans,  were 
superior  to  the  native  subjects  of  the  Scottish  kings,  both  in 
the  arts  of  peace  and  war.  They  therefore  naturally  filled 
their  court,  and  introduced  into  the  country  where  they  were 
strangers  their  own  manners  and  their  own  laws,  which  in 
process  of  time  extended  themselves  to  the  other  races  by 
which  Scotland  was  inhabited. 

The  benefits  received  from  this  influx  of  foreigners,  and 
their  influence,  were  doubtless  a  main  step  toward  civilizing 
Scotland;  yet  the  immediate  effect  of  their  introduction  had 
a  tendency  to  the  disunion  of  the  state.  It  created  in  these 
lofty  strangers  a  race  of  men  acting  upon  different  prin- 
ciples, and  regarding  themselves  as  entirely  a  separate  race 
from  the  Celtic  tribes,  possessing  jarring  interests  and  dis- 
cordant manners.  The  jealousy  between  these  separate 
races  was  shown  in  the  council  of  war  previous  to  the  battle 
of  the  standard,  where  Bruce,  speaking  of  himself  and  his 
compeers,  as  being  neither  Scottish  nor  English,  but  Norman 
barons,  upbraided  David  for  bringing  out  against  a  chival- 
rous race  which  had  rendered  him  such  services  the  wild 
ferocity  and  uncertain  faith  of  the  Scottish  tribes;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  Malise,  earl  of  Stratherne,  reproached 
the  same  monarch  for  trusting  more  to  the  mail  and  spear 
of  Norman  strangers  than  the  undaunted  courage  of  his 
native  soldiers. 

This  intermixture  gave  a  miscellaneous,  and,  in  so  far, 
an  incoherent  appearance  to  the  inhabitants  of  Scotland  at 
this  period.  They  seemed  not  so  much  to  constitute  one 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  69 

state  as  a  confederacy  of  tribes  of  different  origin.  Thus 
the  charters  of  King  David  and  his  successors  are  addressed 
to  all  his  subjects,  French  and  English,  Scottish  and  Galwe- 
gian.  The  manners,  the  prejudices  of  so  many  mixed  races, 
corrected  or  neutralized  each  other ;  and  the  moral  blending 
together  of  nations  led  in  time,  like  some  chemical  mixture, 
to  fermentation  and  subsequent  purity.  This  was  forwarded 
with  the  best  intentions,  though  perhaps  over-hastily,  and 
in  so  far  injudiciously,  by  the  efforts  of  the  Scottish  kings, 
who,  from  Malcolm  Cean-mohr's  time  to  that  of  Alexander 
III.,  appear  to  have  been  a  race  of  as  excellent  monarchs  as 
ever  swayed  sceptre  over  a  rude  people.  They  were  prudent 
in  their  schemes,  and  fortunate  in  the  execution;  and  the 
exceptions  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Malcolm  III.  and  the 
captivity  of  William  can  only  be  imputed  to  chivalrous  rash- 
ness, the  fault  of  the  age.  They  were  unwearied  in  their 
exercise  of  justice,  which,  in  the  more  remote  corners  of 
Scotland,  could  only  be  done  at  the  head  of  an  army;  and 
even  where  the  task  was  devolved  upon  the  sheriffs  and 
vice-sheriffs  of  counties,  the  execution  of  it  required  frequent 
inspection  by  the  king  and  his  high  justiciaries,  who  made 
circuits  for  that  purpose.  The  rights  of  landed  property 
began  to  be  arranged  in  most  of  the  lowland  counties  upon 
the  feudal  system  then  universal  in  Europe,  and  so  far  united 
Scotland  with  the  general  system  of  civilization. 

The  language  which  was  generally  used  in  Scotland, 
came  at  length  to  be  English,  as  the  speech  of  Lothian,  the 
most  civilized  province  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  readiest  in 
which  they  could  hold  communication  with  their  neighbors. 
It  must  have  been  introduced  gradually,  as  is  evident  from 
the  numerous  Celtic  words  retained  in  old  statutes  and  char- 
ters, and  rendered  general  by  its  being  the  only  language 
used  in  writing. 

We  know  there  was  at  least  one  poem  composed  in  En- 
glish, by  a  Scottish  author,  which  excited  the  attention  of 
contemporaries.  It  is  a  metrical  romance  on  the  subject 
of  Sir  Tristrem,  by  Thomas  of  Erceldone,  who  composed  it 


70  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

in  such  "quaint  Inglish"  as  common  minstrels  could  hardly 
understand  or  recite  by  heart.  If  we  may  judge  of  this 
work  from  the  comparatively  modern  copy  which  remains, 
the  style  of  the  composition,  brief,  nervous,  figurative,  and 
concise  almost  to  obscurity,  resembles  the  Norse  or  Anglo- 
Saxon  poetry  more  than  that  of  the  English  miqstrels,  whose 
loose,  prolix,  and  trivial  mode  of  composition .  is  called  by 
Chaucer's  Host  of  the  Tabard,  "drafty  rhiming."  The 
structure  of  the  stanza  in  Sir  Tristrem  is  also  very  peculiar, 
elliptical,  and  complicated,  seeming  to  verify  the  high  eulogy 
of  a  poet  nearly  contemporary,  "that  it  is  the  best  geste  ever 
was  or  ever  would  be  made,  if  minstrels  could  recite  as  the 
author  had  composed  it."  On  the  contrary,  the  elegiac 
ballad  on  Alexander  III.,  already  mentioned,  differs  only 
from  modern  English  in  the  mode  of  spelling. 

Besides  the  general  introduction  of  the  English  language, 
which  spread  itself  gradually,  doubtless,  through  the  more 
civilized  part  of  the  lowlands,  the  Norman- French  was  also 
used  at  court,  which,  as  we  learn  from  the  names  of  wit- 
nesses to  royal  charters,  foundations,  etc.,  was  the  resort  of 
these  foreign  nobles.  It  was  also  adopted  as  the  language 
of  the  coronation  oath,  which  shows  it  was  the  speech  of  the 
nobles,  while  the  version  hi  Latin  seems  to  have  been  made 
for  the  use  of  the  clergy.  The  Norman-French  also,  as 
specially  adapted  to  express  feudal  stipulations,  was  fre- 
quently applied  to  law  proceedings. 

The  political  constitution  of  Scotland  had  not  as  yet 
arranged  itself  under  any  peculiar  representative  form. 
The  king  acted  by  the  advice,  and  sometimes  under  the 
control,  of  a  great  feudal  council,  or  cour  pleniere,  to  which 
vassals  in  chief  of  the  crown  and  a  part  of  the  clergy  were 
summoned.  But  there  was  no  representation  of  the  third 
estate.  There  was,  notwithstanding,  the  spirit  of  freedom 
in  the  government;  and  though  the  institutions  for  its  pres- 
ervation were  not  yet  finished  in  that  early  age,  the  great 
council  failed  not  to  let  their  voice  be  heard  when  the  sover- 
eign fell  into  political  errors.  We  have  already  noticed  that 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  71 

the  liberties  of  the  Church  were  defended  with  a  spirit  of 
independence  hardly  equalled  in  any  other  state  of  Europe 
at  the  time. 

The  useful  arts  began  to  be  cultivated.  The  nobles  and 
gentry  sheltered  themselves  in  towers  built  in  strong  natural 
positions.  Their  skill  in  architecture,  however,  could  not  be 
extensive,  since  the  construction  of  a  handsome  arch,  even 
in  Alexander  the  Third's  time,  could  only  be  accounted  for 
by  magic;1  and  the  few  stately  castellated  edifices  of  an 
early  date  which  remain  in  Scotland  are  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  English,  during  their  brief  occupation  of  that  country. 

Scotland  enjoyed,  during  this  period,  a  more  extensive 
trade  than  historians  have  been  hitherto  aware  of.  Money 
was  current  in  the  country,  and  the  payment  of  considerable 
sums,  as  ten  thousand  marks  to  Richard  I.,  and  on  other 
occasions,  was  accomplished  without  national  distress.  The 
Scottish  military  force  was  respectable,  since,  according  to 
Matthew  Paris,  Alexander  II.  was  enabled,  in  1244,  to  face 
the  power  of  England  with  a  thousand  horse,  well  armed 
and  tolerably  mounted,  though  not  on  Spanish  or  Italian 
horses,  and  nigh  to  one  hundred  thousand  infantry,  all 
determined  to  live  or  die  with  their  sovereign. 

The  household  of  the  Scottish  king  was  filled  with  the 
usual  number  of  feudal  officers,  and  there  was  an  affecta- 
tion of  splendor  in  the  royal  establishment,  which  even  the 
humility  of  the  sainted  Queen  Margaret  did  not  discourage. 
She  and  her  husband  used  at  meals  vessels  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver plate,  or  at  least,  says  the  candid  Turgot,  such  as  were 
lacquered  over  so  as  to  have  that  appearance.  Even  in  the 
early  days  of  Alexander  L,  that  monarch  (with  a  generosity 
similar  to  that  of  the  lover  who  presented  his  bride  with 
a  case  of  razors,  as  what  he  himself  most  prized)  munifi- 


1  It  is  to  be  seen  in  the  ruins  of  the  castle  of  the  Marquis  of  Twee- 
dale's  park  at  Yester.  Fordun  says,  it  was  framed  arte  quadam  magfica, 
and  was  called  Bo-hall,  that  is,  Hobgoblin-hall.  I  presume  the  magic 
consisted  in  the  art  of  casting-  an  arch,  as  the  vault,  which  still  exists, 
has  nothing  else  that  is  remarkable. 


72  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

cently  bestowed  on  the  church  of  Saint  Andrew's  an  Arabian 
steed  covered  with  rich  caparisons,  and  a  suit  of  armor 
ornamented  with  silver  and  precious  stones,  all  which  he 
brought  to  the  high  altar,  and  solemnly  devoted  to  the 
church. 

Berwick  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  a  free  port;  and  under 
Alexander  III.  the  customs  of  that  single  Scottish  port 
amounted  to  £2,197  85.,  while  those  of  all  England  only 
made  up  the  sum  of  £8,411  19s.  ll%dL  An  ancient  historian 
terms  that  town  a  second  Alexandria. 

Lastly,  we  may  notice  that  the  soil  was  chiefly  culti- 
vated by  bondmen;  but  the  institution  of  royal  boroughs 
had  begun  considerably  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
inferior  orders. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Scotland  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century ;  but  w  e  only  recognize  laws  and  institu- 
tions in  those  parts  of  the  kingdom  to  which  the  king's  im- 
mediate authority  and  the  influence  of  the  more  modern 
system  and  manners  extended.  This  was  exclusive  of  the 
whole  Highlands  and  isles,  of  Galloway,  and  Strath-Clyde, 
till  these  two  last  provinces  were  totally  melted  into  the  gen- 
eral mass  of  lowland  or  Scoto-Saxon  civilization;  and  prob- 
ably the  northern  provinces  of  Caithness  and  Moray  were 
also  beyond  the  limits  of  regular  government.  In  other 
words,  the  improved  system  prevailed,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
only  where  men,  from  comparative  wealth  and  convenience 
of  situation,  had  been  taught  to  prefer  the  benefits  of  civil- 
ized government  to  the  ferocious  and  individual  freedom  of 
a  savage  state.  The  mountaineers,  as  they  did  not  value 
the  protection  of  a  more  regular  order  of  law,  despised  and 
hated  its  restraint.  They  continued  to  wear  the  dress,  wield 
the  arms,  and  observe  the  institutions  or  customs  of  their 
Celtic  fathers.  They  acknowledged,  indeed,  generally  speak- 
ing, the  paramount  superiority  of  the  kings  of  Scotland ;  but 
many  of  their  high  chiefs,  such  as  Macdonell  of  the  isles, 
Macdougal  of  Lorn,  Roland  of  Galloway,  and  others,  longed 
for  independence,  and  frequently  attempted  to  assert  it.  The 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  73 

king,  on  the  other  hand,  could  only  exercise  his  authority  in 
these  remote  districts  directly  by  marching  into  them  with 
his  army,  or  indirectly  by  availing  himself  of  their  domestic 
quarrels,  and  instigating  one  chief  to  the  destruction  of  an- 
other. In  either  case  he  might  be  the  terror,  but  could 
never  be  esteemed  the  protector,  of  this  primitive  race  of 
his  subjects,  the  first,  and  for  many  years  the  only  tribes 
over  whom  his  fathers  possessed  any  sway.  And  thus  com- 
menced, and  was  handed  down  for  many  an  age,  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  Celtic  Scot  and  the  Scoto-Saxon,  the  High- 
lander, in  short,  and  Lowlander,  which  is  still  distinctly 
marked  by  the  difference  of  language,  and  was  in  the  last 
generation  more  strongly  apparent  by  the  distinction  of 
manners,  dress,  and  even  laws. 

Such  was  the  singular  state  of  Scotland,  divided  between 
two  separate  races,  one  of  which  had  attained  a  considerable 
degree  of  civilization,  and  the  other  remained  still  nearly  in 
a  state  of  nature,  when  the  death  of  Alexander  III.  exposed 
the  nation  to  the  risk  of  annihilation  as  an  independent  people 
and  kingdom. 


4  -%  VOL.  I. 


74  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  VI 

Schemes  of  Edward  I. — Death  of  the  Maid  of  Norway — John  Baliol: 
his  War  with  England;  and  his  Defeat  at  Dunbar,  and  De- 
thronement 

BY  the  untimely  decease  of  Alexander  III.,  in  1290,  the 
Maid  of  Norway,  his  granddaughter,  remained  sole 
and  undoubted  heir  to  the  throne.  Edward  I.  of 
England,  the  near  relation  of  the  orphan  queen,  instantly 
formed  the  project  of  extending  his  regal  sway  over  the 
northern  part  of  Britain  by  a  marriage  between  this  royal 
heiress  and  his  only  son,  Edward,  prince  of  Wales.  The 
barons  of  Scotland  testified  no  dislike  to  this  alliance,  the 
most  natural  mode,  perhaps,  to  effect  a  union  between  two 
kingdoms  which  nature  had  joined,  though  untoward  events 
had  separated  them.  The  great  nobles  of  that  country  were, 
we  have  seen,  Normans  as  well  as  the  English  lords :  many 
held  land  in  both  kingdoms;  and  therefore  the  idea  of  an 
alliance  with  England  was  not  at  that  time  so  unpopular  as 
it  afterward  became,  when  long  and  bloody  wars  had  ren- 
dered the  nations  irreconcilable  enemies.  The  Scottish  took, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  most  jealous  precautions  that  all  the 
rights  and  immunities  of  Scotland,  as  a  separate  kingdom, 
should  be  upheld  and  preserved;  that  Scottishmen  born 
should  not  be  called  to  answer  in  England  for  deeds  done 
in  their  own  country;  that  the  national  records  should  be 
suffered  to  remain  within  the  realm;  and  that  no  aids  of 
money  or  levies  of  troops  should  be  demanded,  unless  in 
such  cases  as  were  warranted  by  former  usage.  These  pre- 
liminaries were  settled  between  King  Edward  and  a  conven- 
tion of  the  Scottish  estates,  held  at  Birgham,  July,  1290. 
Edward  promised  all  this,  and  swore  to  his  promise ;  but  an 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  75 

urgent  proposal  that  he  should  be  put  in  possession  of  all  the 
Scottish  castles  alarmed  the  estates  of  Scotland,  as  affording 
too  much  cause  to  doubt  whether  oath  or  promise  would  be 
much  regarded. 

In  the  meantime  Margaret,  the  young  heiress  of  Scotland, 
died  on  her  voyage  to  Scotland.  A  new  scene  now  opened; 
for  by  this  event  the  descendants  of  Alexander  III.,  on  whom 
the  crown  had  been  settled  in  1284,  were  altogether  extin- 
guished, and  the  kingdom  lay  open  to  the  claim  of  every 
one,  or  any  one,  who  could  show  a  collateral  connection, 
however  remote,  with  the  royal  family  of  Scotland. 

Many  pretensions  to  the  throne  were  accordingly  set  up ; 
but  the  chief  were  those  of  two  great  lords  of  Norman  ex- 
traction, Robert  Bruce  and  John  Baliol.  The  former  of 
these  was  lord  of  Galloway,  the  latter  of  Annandale  in 
Scotland.  Their  rights  of  succession  stood  thus. 

William  the  Lion  had  a  brother  David,  created  Earl  of 
Huntingdon,  who  left  three  daughters:  namely,  first,  Mar- 
garet, married  to  Alan,  lord  of  Galloway;  second,  Isabella, 
to  Robert  Bruce  of  Annandale;  third,  Ada,  to  Henry  Hast- 
ings. John  Baliol  claimed  the  kingdom  as  the  son  of  Devor- 
goil,  daughter  of  Margaret,  the  eldest  daughter  of  David; 
Bruce,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed,  as  the  son  of  Isabella,  the 
second  daughter,  pretending  that  he  was  thus  nearer  by  one 
generation  to  Earl  David,  through  whom  both  the  compet- 
itors claimed  their  relationship.  The  question  simply  was, 
whether  the  right  of  succession  which  David  of  Huntingdon 
might  have  claimed  while  alive  descended  to  his  grandson 
Baliol,  or  was  to  be  held  as  passing  to  Bruce,  who,  though 
the  son  of  the  younger  sister,  was  one  degree  nearer  to  the 
person  from  whom  he  claimed,  being  only  the  grandson, 
while  Baliol  was  the  great-grandson  of  Earl  David,  their 
common  ancestor.  Modern  lawyers  would  at  once  pro- 
nounce in  BalioPs  favor;  but  the  precise  nature  of  repre- 
sentation had  not  then  been  fixed  in  Scotland. 

Both  barons  resolved  to  support  their  plea  with  arms. 
Many  other  claims,  more  or  less  specious,  were  brought 


76  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

forward.  The  country  of  Scotland  was  divided  and  sub- 
divided into  factions;  and  in  the  rage  of  approaching  civil 
war,  Edward  I.  saw  the  moment  when  that  claim  of  para- 
mount superiority  which  had  been  so  pertinaciously  adhered 
to  by  the  English  monarchs,  though  as  uniformly  refuted 
by  the  Scottish,  might  be  brought  forward  as  the  means 
of  finally  assuming  the  direct  sway  of  the  kingdom.  He 
showed  the  extent  of  his  ambitious  and  unjust  purpose  to 
his  most  trusty  counsellors.  "I  will  subdue  Scotland  to  my 
authority,"  he  said,  "as  I  have  subdued  Wales." 

The  English  monarch,  one  of  the  ablest  generals  and  the 
most  subtle  and  unhesitating  politicians  of  his  own  or  any 
other  time,  assembled  an  army  on  the  borders,  and  commu- 
nicated to  the  clergy  and  nobles  of  Scotland  a  peremptory 
demand,  that,  as  lord  paramount  of  the  kingdom,  he  should 
be  received  and  universally  submitted  to  as  sole  arbiter  in 
the  competition  for  the  crown. 

If  immediate  feuds  and  quarrels  could  have  permitted 
the  Scottish  magnates  to  see  more  distant  consequences,  it 
is  probable  that  with  one  voice  they  would  have  resisted 
this  demand  by  an  express  denial  of  the  right  of  supremacy, 
which,  though  a  claim  to  it  had  been  often  both  insidiously 
and  covertly  and  more  openly  brought  forward,  had  always 
been  repelled  and  resisted  by  the  Scottish  kings,  except  after 
the  treaty  of  Falaise,  in  1174,  when  the  supremacy  was  dis- 
tinctly surrendered,  until  1189,  when  the  right  was  renounced, 
on  payment  of  a  sum  of  money,  by  Richard  I.  But  split  into 
a  thousand  factions,  while  twelve  competitors  were  strug- 
gling for  the  crown,  even  the  best  and  most  prudent  of  the 
Scots  seem  to  have  thought  it  better  to  submit  to  the  award 
of  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  powerful  monarchs  of  Europe, 
although  at  some  sacrifice  of  independence,  which  they  might 
regard  as  temporary  and  almost  nominal,  than  to  expose  the 
country  at  once  to  civil  war  and  the  arms  of  England. 

The  Scottish  barons  might  also  remember  how  lately  they 
had  been  disposed,  by  the  treaty  of  marriage  between  the 
English  prince  of  Wales  and  their  sovereign  Margaret,  to 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  77 

place  their  kingdom  under  the  protection  of  England,  a  step 
little  dissimilar  from  that  now  proposed  by  the  English  mon- 
arch. The  nobili ty  of  Scotland  therefore  admitted  Edward's 
claim,  and  accepted  his  arbitration.  Twelve  competitors 
stepped  forward  to  assert  their  claims ;  and  Edward,  though 
he  stated  a  right  to  the  kingdom  on  his  own  part,  as  to  a 
vacant  fief  which  reverts  to  the  sovereign,  yet  waived  his 
claim  with  a  species  of  affected  moderation.  Unquestion- 
ably his  views  were  better  served  by  dealing  the  cards,  and 
sitting  umpire  of  the  game,  than  if  he  had  mixed  with  the 
players.  And  there  is  little  doubt  that,  far  from  desirous  to 
insist  on  a  claim  which  would  have  united  all  the  competi- 
tors against  him,  he  was  sparing  of  no  art  which  could  em- 
broil the  question,  by  multiplying  the  number  of  claimants, 
and  exasperating  them  against  each  other. 

In  1292,  the  candidates,  called  upon  to  that  effect,  sol- 
emnly acknowledged  Edward's  right  as  lord  paramount  of 
Scotland,  and  submitted  their  claims  to  his  decision.  We 
shall  endeavor  to  explain  hereafter  why  these  Norman  nobles 
were  not  unwilling  to  consent  to  a  submission  which,  as  chil- 
dren of  the  soil,  they  would  probably  have  spurned  at.  The 
strengths  and  fortresses  of  the  kingdom  were  put  into  the 
king  of  England's  power,  to  enable  him  to  support,  it  was 
pretended,  the  award  he  should  pronounce.  After  these 
operations  had  lasted  several  months,  to  accustom  the  Scots 
to  the  view  of  English  governors  and  garrisons  in  their  cas- 
tles, and  to  disable  them  from  resisting  a  foreign  force,  by 
the  continued  disunion  which  must  have  increased  and  be- 
come the  more  embittered  the  longer  the  debate  was  in 
dependence,  Edward  I.  preferred  John  Baliol  to  the  Scot- 
tish crown,  to  be  held  of  him  and  his  successors,  and  sur- 
rendered to  him  the  Scottish  castles  of  which  he  held 
possession,  being  twenty  in  number. 

Edward's  conduct  had  hitherto  been  sufficiently  selfish, 
but,  perhaps,  not  beyond  what  many  prudent  persons  would 
permit  themselves  to  consider  as  just.  His  pretence  to  the 
supremacy,  however  ill-founded,  was  no  invention  of  his 


78  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

own,  but  handed  down  to  him  as  a  right  which  his  ances- 
tors had  claimed  from  a  very  distant  period;  and  as  a  time 
had  now  arrived  when  the  Scottish  were  prevailed  upon  to 
admit  it  on  their  side,  most  sovereigns  would  have  thought 
it  an  opportunity  not  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  barren  consid- 
erations of  abstract  justice. 

But  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  admission  of  the  su- 
premacy was  only  a  part  of  Edward's  object,  and  that  he 
was  determined  so  to  use  his  right  over  Baliol  as  might  force 
either  him  or  Scotland  into  rebellion,  and  give  the  lord  para- 
mount a  pretence  to  seize  the  revolted  fief  into  his  own  hand. 
In  order  to  accomplish  this,  the  king  of  England  encouraged 
vexatious  lawsuits  against  Baliol,  for  compelling  his  frequent 
and  humiliating  appearance  as  a  suitor  in  the  English  courts 
of  law.  A  private  citizen  of  Berwick  having  appealed  from 
a  judgment  of  the  commissioners  of  justice  in  Scotland,  of 
which  that  town  was  then  accounted  part,  Baliol,  on  this 
occasion,  remonstrated  against  the  appeal  being  entertained, 
reminding  Edward  that,  by  the  conditions  sworn  to  at  Birg- 
ham,  it  was  strictly  covenanted  that  no  Scottish  subject  should 
be  called  in  an  English  court,  for  acts  done  in  Scotland.  Ed- 
ward replied,  with  haughty  indifference  and  effrontery,  that 
such  a  promise  was  made  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  time, 
and  that  no  such  engagements  could  prevent  his  calling  into 
his  courts  the  Scottish  king  himself,  if  he  should  see  cause. 
His  vassal,  he  said,  should  not  be  his  conscience-keeper,  to 
enjoin  him  penance  for  broken  faith;  nor  would  he,  for  any 
promise  he  had  made  to  the  Scots  while  treating  of  his  son's 
marriage  with  Margaret,  refrain  from  distributing  the  jus- 
tice which  every  subject  had  a  right  to  require  at  his  hands. 
Baliol  could  only  make  peace  with  his  imperious  master,  by 
yielding  up,  in  1293,  all  stipulations  and  promises  concerning 
the  freedom  and  immunities  of  Scotland,  and  admitting  them 
to  be  discharged  and  annulled. 

Soon  after  this,  Duncan,  tbe  earl  of  Fife,  being  a  minor, 
Macduff,  his  grand-uncle,  made  a  temporary  seizure  of  some 
part  of  the  earldom.  Macduff  being  summoned  to  answer 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  79 

this  offence  before  the  Scottish  estates,  was  condemned  by 
Baliol  to  a  sliglit  imprisonment.  Released  from  his  confine- 
ment, Macduff  summoned  Baliol  to  appear  before  Edward, 
and  Edward  directed  that  the  Scottish  king  should  answer 
by  appearance  in  person  before  him.  He  came,  but  refused 
to  plead.  The  Parliament  of  England  decreed  that  Baliol 
was  liable  to  Macduff  in  damages,  and,  for  his  contumacy  in 
refusing  to  plead  before  his  lord  paramount,  declared  that 
three  principal  towns  in  Scotland,  with  their  castles,  should 
be  taken  into  the  custody  of  Edward  until  the  king  of  Scots 
should  make  satisfaction.  Severe  and  offensive  regulations 
were  laid  down  concerning  the  Scottish  king's  regular  at- 
tendance in  future  on  the  courts  of  his  suzerain  in  England. 
In  a  word,  Baliol  was  made  sensible  that  though  he  might 
be  suffered  for  a  time  to  wear  sceptre  and  crown,  it  was  but 
so  long  as  he  should  consider  himself  a  mere  tool  in  the 
hands  of  a  haughty  and  arbitrary  superior,  who  was  deter- 
mined to  fling  him  aside  on  the  first  opportunity,  and  to  put 
every  species  of  slight  and  dishonor  on  his  right  of  delegated 
majesty,  till  he  should  become  impatient  of  enduring  it. 
The  Scottish  king  therefore  determined  to  extricate  himself 
from  so  degrading  a  position,  and  to  free  himself  and  his 
country  from  the  thraldom  of  a  foreign  usurper. 

The  time  seemed  apt  to  the  purpose,  for  discord  had 
arisen  between  the  realms  of  France  and  England,  concern- 
ing some  feudal  rights  in  which  Edward  had  shown  himself 
as  intractable  and  disobedient  a  vassal  to  Philip  of  France, 
as  he  was  a  severe  and  domineering  superior  to  Baliol. 

Catching  this  favorable  opportunity,  Baliol  formed,  in 
1295,  a  secret  treaty  of  alliance  with  France,  and  stood  upon 
his  defence.  The  Scottish  nobles  joined  him  in  the  purpose 
of  resistance,  but  declined  to  place  Baliol  at  the  head  of  the 
preparations  which  they  made  for  national  defence:  and 
having  no  confidence  either  in  his  wisdom  or  steadiness, 
they  detained  him  in  a  kind  of  honorable  captivity  in  a  dis- 
tant castle,  placing  their  levies  under  the  command  of  leaders 
whose  patriotism  was  considered  less  doubtful. 


80  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

In  1296,  Edward  put  himself  at  the  head  of  four  thou- 
sand horse  and  thirty  thousand  infantry,  the  finest  soldiers 
in  Europe,  and  proceeded  toward  Northumberland.  An- 
thony Beck,  the  military  bishop  of  Durham,  joined  the  royal 
host  with  a  large  body  of  troops.  They  besieged  the  town 
of  Berwick,  and  took  it  by  storm,  though  gallantly  defended. 
Upward  of  seventeen  thousand  of  the  defenceless  inha  tants 
were  slain  in  the  massacre  which  followed,  and  the  town 
(a  very  wealthy  one)  was  entirely  plundered.  A  body  of 
thirty  Flemish  merchants  held  a  strong  building  in  the  town, 
called  the  Redhall,  by  the  tenure  of  defending  it  against  the 
English:  they  did  so  to  the  last,  and  honorably  perished 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  edifice. 

Bruce  the  Competitor,  the  Earl  of  March,  and  other  Scot- 
tish nobles  of  the  south,  joined  with  King  Edward,  instead 
of  opposing  him.  The  first  of  these  vainly  flattered  himself 
that  the  dethronement  of  Baliol  might  be  succeeded  by  his 
own  nomination  to  the  crown,  when  it  should  be  declared 
vacant  by  his  rival's  forfeiture;  and  Edward  seemed  to 
encourage  these  hopes.  While  the  English  king  was  still 
at  Berwick,  the  Abbot  of  Aberbrothock  appeared  before  him 
with  a  letter  from  Baliol,  in  answer  to  Edward's  summons 
to  him  to  appear  in  person,  renouncing  his  vassalage,  and 
expressing  defiance.  "The  foolish  traitor  1"  said  the  king, 
"what  frenzy  has  seized  him?  But  since  he  will  not  come 
to  us,  we  will  go  to  him." 

Edward's  march  northward  was  stopped  by  the  strong 
castle  of  Dunbar,  which  was  held  out  against  him  by  the 
Countess  of  March,  who  had  joined  the  lords  that  declared 
for  the  cause  of  independence,  although  the  earl,  her  hus- 
band, was  serving  in  the  English  army :  so  much  were  the 
Scots  divided  on  this  momentous  occasion.  While  Edward 
pressed  the  siege  of  this  important  place,  the  inner  gate,  as 
it  might  be  termed,  of  Scotland,  a  large  force  appeared  on 
the  descent  of  the  ridge  of  the  Lammermoor  hills,  above  the 
town.  It  was  the  Scottish  army  moving  to  the  relief  of 
Dunbar,  and  on  the  appearance  of  their  banners  the  defend- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  '  81 

era  raised  a  shout  of  exultation  and  defiance.  But  when 
Warrenne,  earl  of  Surrey,  Edward's  general,  advanced 
toward  the  Scottish  army,  the  Scots,  with  a  rashness  which 
often  ruined  their  affairs  before  and  afterward,  poured  down 
from  the  advantageous  post  which  they  occupied,  and  in- 
curred by  their  temerity  a  dreadful  defeat,  which  laid  the 
whole  country  open  to  the  invader. 

Bruce,  after  the  victory  of  Dunbar,  conceived  his  turn  of 
triumph  was  approaching,  and  hinted  to  Edward  his  hope 
of  being  preferred  to  the  throne  which  Baliol  had  forfeited. 
"Have  we  no  other  business,"  said  Edward,  looking  at  him 
askance,  "than  to  conquer  kingdoms  for  you?"  Bruce  re- 
tired, and  meddled  no  more  with  public  affairs,  in  which  his 
grandson,  at  a  later  period,  took  a  part  so  distinguished. 

After  the  battle  of  Dunbar,  scarce  a  spark  of  resistance 
to  Edward  seemed  to  enlighten  the  general  despair.  The 
English  army  continued  an  unresisted  march  as  far  north- 
ward as  Aberdeen  and  Elgin.  Baliol,  brought  before  his 
victor,  in  the  castle  of  Brechin,  was  literally  stripped  of 
his  royal  robes,  confessed  his  feudal  transgression  in  rebel- 
ling against  his  lord  paramount,  and  made  a  formal  sur- 
render of  his  kingdom  to  the  victor. 

The  king  of  England  held  a  parliament  at  Berwick,  in 
1296,  where  he  received  the  willing  and  emulous  submission 
of  Scottishmen  of  the  higher  ranks,  lords,  knights,  and 
squires.  Edward  received  them  all  graciously,  and  took 
measures  for  assuring  his  conquest.  He  created  John  "War- 
renne, earl  of  Surrey,  guardian  of  Scotland.  Hugh  Cres- 
singham,  an  ambitious  churchman,  was  made  treasurer, 
and  William  Ormesby  justiciary  of  the  kingdom.  He  placed 
English  governors  and  garrisons  in  the  Scottish  castles,  and 
returned  to  England,  having  achieved  an  easy  and  appar- 
ently a  permanent  conquest. 

This  was  not  all.  Edward  resolved  so  to  improve  his 
conquest  as  to  eradicate  all  evidence  of  national  independ- 
ence. He  carried  off  or  mutilated  such  records  as  might 
awaken  the  recollection  that  Scotland  had  ever  been  free. 


82  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

The  cartulary  of  Scone,  the  place  where,  since  the  conquest 
of  Kenneth  Macalpine,  the  Scottish  kings  had  been  crowned, 
was  carefully  ransacked  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  what- 
ever might  be  found  at  variance  with  the  king  of  England's 
pretensions.  The  Scottish  historians  have,  perhaps,  magni- 
fied the  extent  of  this  rapine;  but  that  Edward  was  desirous 
to  remove  everything  which  could  remind  the  Scots  of  their 
original  independence  is  proved  by  his  carrying  to  London, 
not  only  the  crown  and  sceptre  surrendered  by  Baliol,  but 
even  the  sacred  stone  on  which  the  Scottish  monarchs  were 
placed  when  they  received  the  royal  inauguration.  He  pre- 
sented these  trophies  to  the  Cathedral  of  Westminster. 

This  fatal  stone,  as  already  mentioned,  was  said  to  have 
been  brought  from  Ireland  by  Fergus,  the  son  of  Eric,  who 
led  the  Dalriads  to  the  shores  of  Argyleshire.  Its  virtues 
are  preserved  in  the  celebrated  leonine  verse : 

Ni  fall  at  fatum,  Scoti,  quocunque  locatum 
Invenient  lapidem,  regnare  tenentur  ibidem. 

Which  may  be  rendered  thus : 

Unless  the  fates  are  faithless  found, 

And  prophets'  voice  be  vain, 
Where'er  this  monument  is  found, 

The  Scottish  race  shall  reign. 

There  were  Scots  who  hailed  the  accomplishment  of  this 
prophecy  at  the  accession  of  James  VI.  to  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land, and  exulted,  that,  in  removing  this  palladium,  the 
policy  of  Edward  resembled  that  which  brought  the  Trojan 
horse  in  triumph  within  their  walls,  and  which  occasioned 
the  destruction  of  their  royal  family.  The  stone  is  still  pre- 
served, and  forms  the  support  of  King  Edward  the  Confes- 
sor's chair,  which  the  sovereign  occupies  at  his  coronation, 
and,  independent  of  the  divination  so  long  in  being  accom- 
plished, is  in  itself  a  very  curious  remnant  of  extreme 
antiquity. 


83 


CHAPTER  VII 

Interregnum — Causes  of  the  National  Misfortunes  of  Scotland — In- 
difference of  the  Norman  Barons — Sir  William  Wallace — Battle 
of  Stirling — Wallace  chosen  Governor  of  Scotland — Edward 
invades  Scotland — Battle  of  Falkirk — Death  of  Wallace 

THE  unanimous  subjection  of  a  proud  and  brave  nation 
to  a  foreign  conqueror  is  too  surprising  to  be  dismissed 
without  remark,  especially  since  it  was  so  general 
that  most  of  the  noble  and  ancient  families  of  Scotland  are 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  tracing  their  ancestors'  names 
in  the  fifty-six  sheets  of  parchment  which  constitute  the 
degrading  roll  of  submission  to  Edward  I.  It  must  be 
generally  allowed  that  men  of  property,  who  have  much 
to  lose,  are  more  likely  to  submit  to  tyranny  and  invasion 
than  the  poor  peasant,  who  has  but  his  knife  and  his  mantle, 
and  whose  whole  wealth  is  his  individual  share  in  the  free- 
dom and  independence  of  the  nation.  But  this  will  scarce 
account  for  the  marks  of  vacillation  and  apostasy  too  visible 
in  the  Scottish  nobility  of  this  period,  in  these  days  of  chiv- 
alry, when  men  piqued  themselves  on  holding  life  in  mean 
regard  compared  to  the  slightest  and  most  punctilious  point 
of  honor.  The  following  circumstances  here  suggest  them- 
selves hi  explanation  of  the  remarkable  fact. 

The  nobility  of  Scotland  during  the  civil  wars  had,  by 
the  unvarying  policy  of  Malcolm  Cean-rnohr  and  his  succes- 
sors, come  to  consist  almost  entirely  of  a  race  foreign  to  the 
country,  who  were  not  bound  to  it  or  to  the  people  by  those 
kindred  ties  which  connect  the  native  with  the  soil  he  inhab- 
its, as  the  same  which  has  been  for  ages  perhaps  the  abode 
of  his  fathers.  Two  or  three  generations  had  not  converted 
Normans  into  Scots;  and,  whatever  allegiance  the  emigrated 


84  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

strangers  might  yield  to  the  monarchs  who  bestowed  on 
them  their  fiefs,  it  must  have  been  different  from  the  senti- 
ments of  filial  attachment  with  which  men  regard  the  land 
of  their  birth  and  that  of  their  ancestors,  and  the  princes  by 
whose  fathers  their  own  had  been  led  to  battle,  and  with 
whom  they  had  shared  conquest  and  defeat. 

In  fact,  the  Normans  were  neither  by  birth  nor  manners 
rendered  accessible  to  the  emotions  which  constitute  patriot- 
ism. Their  ancestors  were  those  Scandinavians  who  left 
without  reluctance  their  native  north  in  search  of  better 
settlements,  and  spread  their  sails  to  the  winds,  like  the 
voluntary  exile  of  modern  times,  little  caring  to  what  shores 
they  were  wafted,  so  that  they  were  not  driven  back  to  their 
own.  The  education  of  the  Normans  of  the  thirteenth  cent- 
ury had  not  inculcated  that  love  of  a  natal  soil,  which  they 
could  not  learn  from  their  roving  fathers  of  the  preceding 
ages.  They  were,  above  all  nations,  devoted  to  chivalry, 
and  its  doctrines  and  habits  were  unfavorable  to  local  attach- 
ment. The  ideal  perfection  of  the  knight-errant  was  to 
wander  from  land  to  land  in  quest  of  adventures,  to  win 
renown,  to  gain  earldoms,  kingdoms,  nay,  empires,  by  the 
sword,  and  to  sit  down  a  settler  on  his  acquisitions,  without 
looking  back  to  the  land  which  gave  him  life.  This  indiffer- 
ence to  his  native  country  was  taught  the  aspirant  to  the 
honors  of  chivalry,  by  early  separation  of  the  ties  which 
bind  youth  to  their  parents  and  families.  The  progress  of 
his  military  education  separated  him  when  a  boy  from  his 
parents'  house,  and  sending  him  to  learn  the  institutions 
of  chivalry  in  the  court  of  some  foreign  prince  or  lord,  early 
destroyed  those  social  ties  which  bind  a  man  to  his  family 
and  birthplace.  When  dubbed  knight,  the  gallant  bachelor 
found  a  home  in  every  tourney  or  battlefield,  and  a  settle- 
ment in  whatever  kingdom  of  the  world  valor  was  best 
rewarded.  The  true  knight-errant  was,  therefore,  a  cos- 
mopolite— a  citizen  of  the  world :  every  soil  was  his  country, 
and  he  was  indifferent  to  feelings  and  prejudices  which  pro- 
mote hi  others  patriotic  attachment  to  a  particular  country. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  8fi 

The  feudal  system  also,  though  the  assertion  may  at  first 
sight  appear  strange,  had,  until  fiefs  were  rendered  heredi- 
tary, circumstances  unfavorable  to  loyalty  and  patriotism. 
A  vassal  might,  and  often  did,  hold  fiefs  hi  more  realms 
than  one;  a  division  of  allegiance  tending  to  prevent  the 
sense  of  duty  or  loyal  attachment  running  strongly  in  any 
of  their  single  channels.  Nay,  he  might,  and  many  did, 
possess  fiefs  depending  on  the  separate  kings  of  France, 
England,  and  Scotland;  and  thus  being,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, the  subject  of  all  these  princes,  he  could  hardly  look 
on  any  of  them  with  peculiar  attachment,  unless  it  were 
created  by  personal  respect  or  preference.  "When  war  broke 
out  between  any  of  the  princes  whom  he  depended  upon,  the 
feudatory  debated  with  himself  to  which  standard  he  should 
adhere,  and  shook  himself  clear  of  his  allegiance  to  the  other 
militant  power  by  resigning  the  fief.  The  possibility  of  thus 
changing  country  and  masters,  this  habit  of  serving  a  prince 
only  so  long  as  the  vassal  held  fief  under  him,  led  to  loose 
and  irregular  conceptions  on  the  subject  of  loyalty,  and 
gave  the  feudatory  more  the  appearance  of  a  mercenary 
who  serves  for  pay  than  of  a  patriot  fighting  in  defence  of 
his  country.  This  consequence  may  be  drawn  from  the  fre- 
quent compliances  and  change  of  parties  visible  in  the  Scot- 
tish barons,  and  narrated  without  much  censure  by  the 
historians.  Lastly,  the  reader  may  observe  that  the  great 
feudatories,  who  seemed  to  consider  themselves  as  left  to 
choose  to  which  monarch  they  should  attach  themselves, 
were  less  regardful  of  the  rights  of  England  and  Scotland, 
or  of  foreigners  and  native  princes,  than  of  the  personal  tal- 
ents and  condition  of  the  two  kings.  In  attaching  them- 
selves to  Edward  instead  of  Baliol,  the  high  vassals  con- 
nected themselves  with  valor  instead  of  timidity,  wealth 
instead  of  poverty,  and  conquest  instead  of  defeat.  Such 
indifference  to  the  considerations  arising  from  patriotism 
and  such  individual  attention  to  their  own  interest  being 
the  characteristic  of  the  Scoto-Norman  nobles,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  many  of  them  took  but  a  lukewarm  share  in 


86  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

the  defence  of  their  country,  and  that  some  of  them  were 
guilty  of  shameful  versatility  during  the  quickly-changing 
scenes  which  we  are  about  to  narrate.  It  was  different 
with  the  Scottish  nation  at  large. 

Exasperated  by  the  contumely  thrown  on  the  country, 
by  the  aggressions  of  the  English  garrisons,  and  the  extor- 
tions of  Cressingham  the  treasurer,  a  general  hatred  of  the 
English  yoke  was  manifested  through  a  people,  who,  being 
in  a  semi-barbarous  state,  were  willing  enough  to  exchange 
a  disgraceful  submission  for  an  honorable  though  desperate 
warfare.  The  Scots  assembled  in  troops  and  companies,  and 
betaking  themselves  to  the  woods,  mountains,  and  morasses, 
in  which  their  fathers  had  defended  themselves  against  the 
Romans,  prepared  for  a  general  insurrection  against  the  En- 
glish power. 

If  the  Scoto-Norman  nobles  had  lightly  transferred  their 
allegiance  to  Edward,  it  was  otherwise  with  the  middle  and 
lower  proprietors,  who,  sprung  of  the  native  race  of  Scotland, 
mingling  in  the  condition  of  the  people,  and  participating  in 
their  feeling,  burned  with  zeal  to  avenge  themselves  on  the 
English,  who  were  in  usurped  possession  of  their  national 
fortresses.  As  soon  as  Edward  with  his  army  had  crossed 
the  frontiers,  they  broke  out  into  a  number  of  petty  insur- 
rections, unconnected  indeed,  but  sufficiently  numerous  to 
indicate  a  disposition  for  hostilities,  which  wanted  but  a 
leader  to  render  it  general.  They  found  one  in  Sir  William 
"Wallace. 

This  champion  of  his  country  was  of  Anglo-Norman 
descent,  but  not  so  distinguished  by  birth  and  fortune  as 
to  enjoy  high  rank,  great  wealth,  or  participate  in  that 
chilling  indifference  to  the  public  honor  and  interest  which 
these  advantages  were  apt  to  create  in  their  possessor.  He 
was  born  in  Renfrewshire,  a  district  of  the  ancient  kingdom 
of  Strath-Clyde,  and  his  nurse  may  have  soothed  him  with 
tales  and  songs  of  the  "Welsh  bards,  as  there  is  room  to  sup- 
pose that  the  British  language  was  still  lingering  in  remote 
corners  of  the  country,  where  it  had  been  once  universal. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  87 

At  any  rate,  "Wallace  was  bred  up  free  from  the  "egotistic 
and  selfish  principles  which  are  but  too  natural  to  the  air 
of  a  court,  and  peculiarly  unfavorable  to  the  character  of  a 
patriot.  Popular  Scottish  tradition,  which  delights  to  dwell 
upon  the  beloved  champion  of  the  people,  describes  William 
Wallace  as  of  dignified  stature,  unequalled  strength  and 
dexterity,  and  so  brave  that  only  on  one  occasion,  and  then 
under  the  influence  of  a  supernatural  power,  is  he  allowed 
by  tradition  to  have  experienced  the  sensation  of  fear. 

Wallace  is  believed  to  have  been  proclaimed  an  outlaw 
for  the  slaughter  of  an  Englishman  in  a  casual  fray.  He 
retreated  to  the  woods,  collected  round  him  a  band  of  men 
as  desperate  as  himself,  and  obtained  several  successes  in 
skirmishes  with  the  English.  Joined  by  Sir  William  Doug- 
las, hi  1297,  who  had  been  taken  at  the  siege  of  Berwick, 
but  had  been  discharged  upon  ransom,  the  insurgents  com- 
pelled Edward  to  send  an  army  against  them,  under  the  Earl 
of  Surrey,  the  victor  of  Dunbar.  Several  of  the  nobility, 
moved  by  Douglas's  example,  had  joined  Wallace's  stand- 
ard; but  overawed  at  the  approach  of  the  English  army, 
and  displeased  to  act  under  a  man,  like  Wallace,  of  com- 
paratively obscure  birth,  they  capitulated  with  Sir  Henry 
Percy,  the  nephew  of  Surrey,  and,  hi  one  word,  changed 
sides.  Wallace  kept  the  field  at  the  head  of  a  considerable 
army,  partly  consisting  of  his  own  experienced  followers, 
partly  of  the  smaller  barons  or  crown  tenants,  and  partly  of 
vassals  even  of  the  apostate  lords,  and  volunteers  of  every 
condition.  By  the  exertion  of  much  conduct  and  resolution, 
Wallace  had  made  himself  master  of  the  country  beyond 
Forth,  and  taken  several  castles,  when  he  was  summoned  to 
Stirling  to  oppose  Surrey,  the  English  governor  of  Scotland. 
Wallace  encamped  on  the  northern  side  of  the  river,  leaving 
Stirling  bridge  apparently  open  to  the  English,  but  resolv- 
ing, as  it  was  long  and  narrow,  to  attack  them  while  in  the 
act  of  crossing.  The  Earl  of  Surrey  led  fifty  thousand  in- 
fantry, and  a  thousand  men-at-arms.  Part  of  his  soldiers, 
however,  were  the  Scottish  barons  who  had  formerly  joined 


88  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

"Wallace's  standard,  and  who,  notwithstanding  their  return 
to  that  of  Surrey,  were  scarcely  to  be  trusted  to. 

The  English  treasurer,  Cressingham,  murmured  at  the 
expense  attending  the  war,  and  to  bring  it  to  a  crisis,  pro- 
posed to  commence  an  attack  the  next  morning  by  crossing 
the  river.  Surrey,  an  experienced  warrior,  hesitated  to  en- 
gage his  troops  in  the  defile  of  a  wooden  bridge,  where  scarce 
two  horsemen  could  ride  abreast;  but,  urged  by  the  impru- 
dent vehemence  of  Cressingham,  he  advanced,  contrary  to 
common  sense,  as  well  as  to  his  own  judgment.  The  van- 
guard of  the  English  was  attacked  before  they  could  get 
into  order;  the  bridge  was  broken  down,  and  thousands 
perished  in  the  river  and  by  the  sword.  Cressingham  was 
slain,  and  Surrey  fled  to  Berwick  on  the  spur,  to  recount  to 
Edward  that  Scotland  was  lost  at  Stirling  in  as  short  a  time 
as  it  had  been  won  at  Dunbar.  In  a  brief  period  after  this 
victory,  almost  all  the  fortresses  of  the  kingdom  surrendered 
to  "Wallace. 

Increasing  his  forces,  Wallace,  that  he  might  gratify 
them  with  plunder,  led  them  across  the  English  border,  and 
sweeping  it  lengthwise  from  Newcastle  to  the  gates  of  Car- 
lisle, left  nothing  behind  him  but  blood  and  ashes.  The 
nature  of  Wallace  was  fierce,  but  not  inaccessible  to  pity 
or  remorse.  As  his  unruly  soldiers  pillaged  the  church  of 
Hexham,  he  took  the  canons  under  his  immediate  protec- 
tion. "Abide  with  me,"  he  said,  "holy  men;  for  my  people 
are  evil-doers,  and  I  may  not  correct  them." 

When  he  returned  from  this  successful  foray,  an  assembly 
of  the  states  was  held  at  the  Forest  church  in  Selkirkshire, 
where  Wallace  was  chosen  guardian  of  the  kingdom  of  Scot- 
land. The  meeting  was  attended  by  Lennox,  Sir  William 
Douglas,  and  sonit,  few  men  of  rank:  others  were  absent 
from  fear  of  King  Edward,  or  from  jealousy  of  an  inferior 
person,  like  Wallace,  raised  to  so  high  a  station. 

Conscious  of  the  interest  which  he  had  deservedly  main- 
tained in  the  breast  of  the  universal  people  of  Scotland, 
Wallace  pursued  his  judicious  plans  of  enforcing  general 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  89 

levies  through  the  kingdom,  and  bringing  them  under  dis- 
cipline. It  was  full  time,  for  Edward  was  moving  against 
them. 

The  English  monarch  was  absent  in  Flanders  when  these 
events  took  place,  and  what  was  still  more  inconvenient,  be- 
fore he  could  gain  supplies  from  his  Parliament  to  suppress 
the  Scottish  revolt,  Edward  found  himself  obliged  to  confirm 
Magna  Charta,  the  charter  of  the  forest,  and  other  stipula- 
tions in  favor  of  the  people;  the  English  being  prudently 
though  somewhat  selfishly  disposed  to  secure  their  own  free- 
dom before  they  would  lend  their  swords  to  destroy  that  of 
their  neighbors. 

Complying  with  these  demands,  Edward,  on  his  return 
from  the  Low  Countries,  found  himself  at  the  head  of  a  gal- 
lant muster  of  all  the  English  chivalry,  forming  by  far  the 
most  superb  army  that  had  ever  entered  Scotland.  "Wallace 
acted  with  great  sagacity,  and,  according  to  a  plan  which 
often  before  and  after  proved  successful  in  Scottish  warfare, 
laid  waste  the  intermediate  country  between  Stirling  and  the 
frontiers,  and  withdrew  toward  the  centre  of  the  kingdom 
to  receive  the  English  attack,  when  their  army  should  be 
exhausted  by  privation. 

Edward  pressed  on,  with  characteristic  hardihood  and 
resolution.  Tower  and  town  fell  before  him:  but  his  ad- 
vance was  not  without  such  inconvenience  and  danger  as 
a  less  determined  monarch  would  have  esteemed  a  good 
apology  for  retreat.  His  army  suffered  from  want  of  pro- 
visions, which  were  at  length  supplied  hi  small  quantities 
by  some  of  his  ships.  As  the  English  king  lay  at  Kirkliston, 
in  West  Lothian,  a  tumult  broke  out  between  the  Welsh  and 
English  in  his  army,  which,  after  costing  some  blood,  was 
quelled  with  difficulty.  While  Edward  hesitated  whether 
to  advance  or  retreat,  he  learned,  through  the  treachery  of 
two  apostate  Scottish  nobles  (the  Earls  of  Dunbar  and  Angus) 
that  Wallace,  with  the  Scottish  army,  had  approached  so 
near  as  Falkirk.  This  advance  was  doubtless  made  with 
the  purpose  of  annoying  the  expected  retreat  of  the  English. 


90  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Edward,  thus  apprised  that  the  Scots  were  in  his  vicinity, 
determined  to  compel  them  to  action.  He  broke  up  his 
camp,  and,  advancing  with  caution,  slept  the  next  night  in 
the  fields  along  with  the  soldiers.  But  the  casualties  of  the 
campaign  were  not  yet  exhausted.  His  war-horse,  which 
was  picketed  beside  him,  like  that  of  an  ordinary  man-at- 
arms,  struck  the  king  with  his  foot,  and  hurt  him  in  the 
side.  A  tumult  arose  in  the  camp;  but  Edward,  regardless 
of  pain,  appeased  it  by  mounting  his  horse,  riding  through 
the  cantonments,  and  showing  the  soldiers  that  he  was  in 
safety. 

Next  morning,  July  22,  1298,  the  armies  met.  The  Scot- 
tish infantry  were  drawn  up  on  a  moor,  with  a  morass  in 
front.  They  were  divided  into  four  phalanxes  or  dense 
masses,  with  lances  lowered  obliquely  over  each  other,  and 
seeming,  says  an  English  historian,  like  a  castle  walled 
with  steel.  These  spearmen  were  the  flower  of  the  army, 
in  whom  Wallace  chiefly  confided.  He  commanded  them 
in  person,  and  used  the  brief  exhortation,  "I  have  brought 
you  to  the  ring;  dance  as  you  best  can." 

The  Scottish  archers,  under  the  command  of  Sir  John 
Stewart,  brother  of  the  steward  of  Scotland,  were  drawn  up 
in  the  intervals  between  the  masses  of  infantry.  They  were 
chiefly  brought  from  the  wooded  district  of  Selkirk.  We 
hear  of  no  Highland  bowmen  among  them.  The  cavalry, 
which  only  amounted  to  one  thousand  men-at-arms,  held 
the  rear. 

The  English  cavalry  began  the  action.  The  marshal  of 
England  led  half  of  the  men-at-arms  straight  upon  the  Scot- 
tish front,  but  in  doing  so  involved  them  in  the  morass.  The 
bishop  of  Durham,  who  commanded  the  other  division  of 
the  English  cavalry,  was  wheeling  round  the  morass  on  the 
east,  and  perceiving  this  misfortune,  because  disposed  to 
wait  for  support.  "To  mass,  bishop!"  said  Ralph  Basset 
of  Drayton,  and  charged  with  the  whole  body.  The  Scottish 
men-at-arms  went  off  without  couching  their  lances ;  but  the 
infantry  stood  their  ground  firmly.  In  the  turmoil  that  fol- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  91 

lowed,  Sir  John  Stewart  fell  from  his  horse,  and  was  slain 
among  the  archers  of  Ettricke,  who  died  in  defending  or 
avenging  him.  The  close  bodies  of  Scottish  spearmen,  now 
exposed  without  means  of  defence  or  retaliation,  were  shaken 
by  the  constant  showers  of  arrows;  and  the  English  men-at- 
arms  finally  charging  them  desperately  while  they  were  in 
disorder,  broke  and  dispersed  these  formidable  masses.  The 
Scots  were  then  completely  routed,  and  it  was  only  the  neigh- 
boring woods  which  saved  a  remnant  from  the  sword.  The 
body  of  Stewart  was  found  among  those  of  his  faithful  arch- 
ers, who  were -distinguished  by  their  stature  and  fair  com- 
plexions from  all  others  with  which  the  field  was  loaded. 
Macduff  and  Sir  John  the  Grahame,  "the  hardy  wight 
and  wise,"  still  fondly  remembered  as  the  bosom  friend 
of  Sir  William  "Wallace,  were  slain  in  the  same  disastrous 
action. 

Popular  report  states  this  battle  to  have  been  lost  by 
treachery;  and  the  communication  between  the  Earls  of 
Dunbar  and  Angus  and  King  Edward,  as  well  as  the  dis- 
graceful flight  of  the  Scottish  cavalry  without  a  single  blow, 
corroborates  the  suspicion.  But  the  great  superiority  of  the 
English  in  archery  may  account  for  the  loss  of  this  as  of 
many  another  battle  on  the  part  of  the  Scots.  The  bowmen 
of  Ettricke  forest  were  faithful ;  but  they  could  only  be  few. 
So  nearly  had  "Wallace's  scheme  for  the  campaign  been  suc- 
cessful that  Edward,  even  after  having  gained  this  great 
battle,  returned  to  England,  and  deferred  reaping  the  har- 
vest of  his  conquest  till  the  following  season.  If  he  had  not 
been  able  to  bring  the  Scottish  army  to  action,  his  retreat 
must  have  been  made  with  discredit  and  loss,  and  Scotland 
must  have  been  left  in  the  power  of  the  patriots. 

The  slaughter  and  disgrace  of  the  battle  of  Falkirk  might 
have  been  repaired  in  other  respects ;  but  it  cost  the  Scottish 
kingdom  an  irredeemable  loss  in  the  public  services  of  "Wal- 
lace. He  resigned  the  guardianship  of  the  kingdom,  unable 
to  discharge  its  duties,  amid  the  calumnies  with  which  fac- 
tion and  envy  aggravated  his  defeat.  The  bishop  of  St. 


92  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

Andrew's,  Bruce,  earl  of  Carrick,  and  Sir  John  Comyn, 
were  chosen  guardians  of  Scotland,  which  they  administered 
in  the  name  of  Baliol.  In  the  meantime,  that  unfortunate 
prince  was,  in  compassion  or  scorn,  delivered  up  to  the  pope 
by  Edward,  and  a  receipt  was  gravely  taken  for  his  person 
from  the  nuncio  then  in  France.  This  led  to  the  entrance 
of  a  new  competitor  for  the  Scottish  kingdom. 

The  pontiff  of  Rome  had  been  long  endeavoring  to  estab- 
lish a  claim,  as  if  he  had  been  lord  of  the  manor  of  all  Chris- 
tendom, to  whatsoever  should  be  therein  found,  to  which  a 
distinct  and  specific  right  of  property  could-  not  be  ascer- 
tained. His  claim  to  the  custody  of  the  dethroned  king 
being  readily  admitted,  Boniface  VIII.  was  encouraged  to 
publish  a  bull,  claiming  Scotland  as  a  dependency  on  the 
see  of  Rome,  because  the  country  had  been  converted  to 
Christianity  by  the  relics  of  St.  Andrew,  although  how 
the  premises  authorized  the  conclusion  it  is  difficult  to  dis- 
cover. The  pope  in  the  same  document  took  the  claim  of 
Edward  to  the  Scottish  crown  under  his  own  discussion,  and 
authoritatively  commanded  Edward  I.  to  send  proctors  to 
Rome,  to  plead  his  cause  before  his  holiness.  This  magis- 
terial requisition  was  presented  by  the  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury to  the  king,  hi  the  presence  of  the  council  and  court, 
the  prelate  at  the  same  tune  warning  the  sovereign  to  yield 
unreserved  obedience,  since  Jerusalem  would  not  fail  to  pro- 
tect her  citizens,  and  Mount  Zion  her  worshippers.  "Neither 
for  Zion  nor  Jerusalem,"  said  Edward,  in  towering  wrath, 
"will  I  depart  from  my  just  rights,  while  there  is  breath  in 
my  nostrils."  Accordingly  he  caused  the  pope's  bull  to  be 
laid  before  the  Parliament  of  England,  who  unanimously 
resolved,  "that  in  temporals  the  king  of  England  was  inde- 
pendent of  Rome,  and  that  they  would  not  permit  his  sover- 
eignty to  be  questioned."  Their  declaration  concludes  with 
these  remarkable  words:  "We  neither  do,  will,  nor  can  per- 
mit our  sovereign  to  do  anything  to  the  detriment  of  the 
constitution  which  we  are  both  sworn  to,  and  are  deter- 
mined to  maintain."  A  spirited  assertion  of  national  right, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  93 

had  it  not  been  in  so  bad  a  cause  as  that  of  Edward's  claim 
of  usurpation  over  Scotland. 

Meantime  the  war  languished  during  this  strange  discus- 
sion, from  which  the  pope  was  soon  obliged  to  retreat.  There 
was  an  inefficient  campaign  in  1299  and  1300.  In  1301  there 
was  a  truce,  in  which  Scotland  as  well  as  France  was 
included.  After  the  expiry  of  this  breathing  space,  Ed- 
ward I.,  in  the  spring  of  1302,  sent  an  army  into  Scotland 
of  twenty  thousand  men,  under  Sir  John  Seward,  a  re- 
nowned general.  He  marched  toward  Edinburgh  in  three 
divisions,  leaving  large  intervals  between  each.  "While  in 
this  careless  order,  Seward's  vanguard  found  themselves 
suddenly  within  reach  of  a  small  but  chosen  body  of  troops, 
amounting  to  eight  thousand  men,  commanded  by  Sir  John 
Comyn,  the  guardian,  and  a  gallant  Scotch  knight,  Sir  Simon 
Fraser.  Seward  was  defeated ;  but  the  battle  was  scarce  over 
when  his  second  division  came  up.  The  Scots,  flushed  with 
victory,  re-established  their  ranks,  and  having  cruelly  put  to 
death  their  prisoners,  attacked  and  defeated  the  second  body 
also.  The  third  division  came  up  in  the  same  manner.  Again 
it  became  necessary  to  kill  the  captives,  and  to  prepare  for  a 
third  encounter.  The  Scottish  leaders  did  so  without  hesita- 
tion, and  their  followers  having  thrown  themselves  furiously 
on  the  enemy,  discomfited  that  division  likewise,  and  gained, 
as  their  historians  boast,  three  battles  in  one  day. 

But  the  period  seemed  to  be  approaching  in  which  neither 
courage  nor  exertion  could  longer  avail  the  unfortunate  peo- 
ple of  Scotland.  A  peace  with  France,  in  which  Philip  the 
Fair  totally  omitted  all  stipulations  in  favor  of  his  allies,  left 
the  kingdom  to  its  own  inadequate  means  of  resistance,  while 
Edward  directed  Ll^  whole  force  against  it.  The  castle  of 
Brechin,  under  the  gallant  Sir  Thomas  Maule,  made  an  ob- 
stinate resistance.  In  1303  he  was  mortally  wounded,  and 
died  in  an  exclamation  of  rage  against  the  soldiers,  who 
asked  if  they  might  not  then  surrender  the  castle.  Edward 
wintered  at  Dunfermline,  and  began  the  next  campaign  with 
the  siege  of  Stirling,  the  only  fortress  in  the  kingdom  that 


94  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

still  held  out.  But  the  courage  of  the  guardians  altogether 
gave  way ;  they  set  the  example  of  submission,  and  such  of 
them  as  had  been  most  obstinate  in  what  the  English  king 
called  rebellion  were  punished  by  various  degrees  of  fine  and 
banishment.  "With  respect  to  Sir  William  Wallace,  it  was 
agreed  that  he  might  have  the  choice  of  surrendering  him- 
self unconditionally  to  the  king's  pleasure,  provided  he 
thought  proper  to  do  so;  a  stipulation  which,  as  it  signi- 
fied nothing  in  favor  of  the  person  for  whom  it  was  ap- 
parently conceived,  must  be  imputed  as  a  pretext  on  the 
part  of  the  Scottish  nobles  to  save  themselves  from  the  dis- 
grace of  having  left  Wallace  altogether  unthought  of.  Some 
attempts  were  made  to  ascertain  what  sort  of  accommoda- 
tion Edward  was  likely  to  enter  into  with  the  bravest  and 
most  constant  of  his  enemies;  but  the  demands  of  Wallace 
were  large,  and  the  generosity  of  Edward  very  small.  The 
English  king  broke  off  the  treaty,  and  put  a  price  of  three 
hundred  marks  on  the  head  of  the  patriot. 

Meantime  Stirling  Castle  continued  to  be  defended  by  a 
slender  garrison,  and,  deprived  of  all  hopes  of  relief,  con- 
tinued to  make  a  desperate  defence,  under  its  brave  gov- 
ernor, Sir  William  Olifaunt,  until  famine  and  despair  com- 
pelled him  to  an  unconditional  surrender,  when  the  king 
imposed  the  harshest  terms  on  this  handful  of  brave  men. 

But  what  Edward  prized  more  than  the  surrender  of  the 
last  fortress  which  resisted  his  arms  in  Scotland  was  the  cap- 
tivity of  her  last  patriot.  He  had  found  in  a  Scottish  noble- 
man, Sir  John  Monteith,  a  person  willing  to  become  his  agent 
hi  searching  for  Wallace  among  the  wilds  where  he  was 
driven  to  find  refuge.  Wallace  was  finally  betrayed  to  the 
English  by  his  unworthy  and  apostate  countryman,  who  ob- 
tained an  opportunity  of  seizing  him  at  Robroyston,  near 
Glasgow,  by  the  treachery  of  a  servant.  Sir  William  Wal- 
lace was  instantly  transferred  to  London,  where  he  was 
brought  to  trial  in  Westminster  Hall,  with  as  much  appa- 
ratus of  infamy  as  the  ingenuity  of  his  enemies  could  devise. 
He  was  crowned  with  a  garland  of  oak,  to  intimate  that  he 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  95 

had  been  king  of  outlaws.  The  arraignment  charged  him 
with  high  treason,  in  respect  that  he  had  stormed  and  taken 
towns  and  castles,  and  shed  much  blood.  "Traitor,"  said 
Wallace,  "was  I  never."  The  rest  of  the  charges  he  con- 
fessed, and  proceeded  to  justify  them.  He  was  condemned, 
and  executed  by  decapitation.  His  head  was  placed  on  a 
pinnacle  on  London  Bridge,  and  his  quarters  were  distrib- 
uted over  the  kingdom. 

Thus  died,  in  1305,  this  courageous  patriot,  leaving  a  re- 
membrance which  will  be  immortal  in  the  hearts  of  his  coun- 
trymen. This  steady  champion  of  independence  having  been 
removed,  and  a  bloody  example  held  out  to  all  who  should 
venture  to  tread  in  his  footsteps,  Edward  proceeded  to  form 
a  species  of  constitution  for  the  country,  which,  at  the  cost 
of  so  much  labor,  policy,  and  bloodshed,  he  had  at  length, 
as  he  conceived,  united  forever  with  the  English  crown. 
Ten  commissioners  chosen  for  Scotland  and  twenty  for 
England  composed  a  set  of  regulations  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  and  enactments  were  agreed  upon,  by 
which  the  feudal  law,  which  had  been  long  introduced  into 
Scotland,  was  strengthened  and  extended,  while  the  remains 
of  the  ancient  municipal  customs  of  the  original  Celtic  tribes, 
or  the  consuetudinary  laws  of  the  Scots  and  Bretts  (the  Scoto- 
Irish  and  British  races)  were  finally  abrogated.  This  was 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  a  uniformity  of  laws  through 
the  islands.  Sheriffs  and  other  officers  were  appointed  for  the 
administration  of  justice.  There  were  provisions  also  made 
for  a  general  revision  of  the  ancient  laws  and  statutes  of 
Scotland. 

But  while  Edward  was  endeavoring  to  reap  the  fruit  of 
so  many  years  of  craft  and  violence,  a  crisis  was  approach- 
ing in  which  his  whole  labors  were  eventually  destroyed. 


96  HI8TOBY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Bruce,  Earl  of  Carrick — His  early  Life — His  Claims  to  the  Throne — 
His  Plot  with  Corny n — Death  of  Corny n — Bruce  assumes  the 
Crown — Battle  of  Methven  Park — Extremities  to  which  Bruce 
is  reduced — He  flies  to  Rachrin— Fate  of  bis  Adherents 

ROBERT  BRUCE,  earl  of  Carrick,  was  the  grandson 
of  that  nobleman  who  was  competitor  for  the  crown 
of  Scotland  when  John  Baliol  was  preferred  to  the 
short-lived  honor  of  wearing  it.  Since  the  time  that  he  met 
a  rude  repulse  from  Edward,  after  the  battle  of  Dunbar,  am- 
bition seems  to  have  been  mortified  within  the  candidate. 
He  retired  to  his  English  estates,  and  lived  there  in  such 
security  as  the  times  admitted.  His  son  did  not  take  much 
concern  in  public  affairs;  but  the  grandson  early  evinced  a 
desire  of  distinction,  which  showed  itself  in  active  bursts  of 
sudden  enterprise,  which  were  directed  in  a  manner  so  incon- 
sistent, and  taken  up  and  abandoned  with  so  much  apparent 
levity,  as  to  afford  little  prospect  of  his  possessing  the  strength 
of  character  and  vigor  of  determination  which  he  afterward 
exhibited  under  such  a  variety  of  adventures,  disastrous  or 
prosperous. 

Robert  Bruce  was  put  in  possession  of  the  earldom  of 
Carrick  by  the  resignation  of  his  father  in  1293.  About  this 
time  Baliol,  king  of  Scotland,  declared  war  against  England ; 
but  none  of  the  Bruce  family  joined  him  on  that  occasion. 
They  continued  to  regard  their  own  chief  the  elder  Bruce 's 
title  to  the  crown  as  more  just  than  that  of  Baliol.  The 
eldest  Bruce,  indeed,  as  we  have  just  noticed,  nourished 
hopes  that  Edward  would  have  preferred  him  to  the  crown 
on  the  deposition  of  his  rival ;  but  checked  by  the  scornful 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  97 

answer  of  the  monarch,  that  he  had  other  business  than  con- 
quering kingdoms  for  him,  he  retired  to  his  great  Yorkshire 
possessions,  yielding  his  Scottish  estates  to  the  charge  of  his 
grandson,  who  showed  at  this  early  period,  when  a  youth  of 
two  or  three-and-twenty,  a  bold,  bustling,  and  ambitious, 
but  versatile  disposition  of  mind.  He  had  a  natural  spirit 
of  ill-will  against  the  great  family  of  Comyn,  because  John 
Comyn  of  Badenoch  had  married  Marjory,  the  sister  of  John 
Baliol.  So  that  when  BalioPs  title  was  ended  by  his  resig- 
nation, and  the  foreign  residence  and  youth  of  his  son  placed 
him  out  of  the  question,  John,  called  the  Red  Comyn,  the 
son  of  John  Comyn  of  Badenoch  and  Marjory  Baliol,  had, 
through  his  mother,  the  same  title  to  the  throne  as  that 
which  had  been  preferred  on  the  part  of  John  Baliol :  and 
the  Comyns'  claim,  as  Baliol's,  in  the  last  generation,  then 
stood  in  direct  opposition  to  that  on  which  the  Braces  rested 
as  descendants  from  Isabella,  second  daughter  of  David,  earl 
of  Huntingdon. 

But,  besides  the  emulation  which  divided  these  two  great 
families  touching  the  succession  of  the  crown,  there  had  pri- 
vate injuries  passed  between  them  of  a  nature  which,  in  that 
haughty  age,  were  accounted  deserving  of  persevering  and 
inveterate  vengeance.  The  lords  who  joined  John  Baliol  in 
his  revolt  from  Edward  had  issued  a  hasty  order,  confiscat- 
ing the  rich  property  of  Annandale,  because  Bruce  had  not 
obeyed  their  summons.  His  domains  were  granted  by  John 
Baliol  to  Comyn,  earl  of  Buchan,  and  Bruce's  castle  of  Loch- 
maben  was  occupied  by  him  accordingly.  From  these  united 
reasons,  it  is  probable  that  Robert  never  forgave  a  family 
whose  claim  had  not  only  come  between  his  grandfather  and 
a  crown,  but  who  had  also  showed  a  purpose  of  stripping 
him  of  his  paternal  estate,  and  dared  to  establish  one  of 
their  number  as  lord  of  his  castle.  The  chief  part  of  his 
resentment  was  directed  against  the  Comyns,  who  took  ad- 
vantage by  the  act  of  confiscation,  for  Baliol  was  regarded 
only  as  the  tool ;  and  this  must  be  considered  as  adding  to 
the  feudal  hatred  between  the  powerful  houses  of  Bruce 
5  <%.  VOL.  I. 


98  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

and  Comyn,  which  afterward  led  to  such  important  conse- 
quences. 

The  two  representatives  of  these  two  great  factions  of 
Bruce  and  Comyn,  therefore,  stood  in  regular  opposition  to 
each  other,  each  having  a  claim  to  the  throne,  which  both 
probably  only  wanted  an  opportunity  of  urging.  The  nec- 
essary consequence  was  that  suspicion  and  hatred  divided 
the  heads  of  the  two  rival  houses,  and  rendered  it  almost 
impossible  for  them  to  concur  in  any  joint  effort  for  their 
country's  liberty,  because,  when  that  freedom  should  be 
achieved,  they  could  not  expect  to  agree  which  of  them 
should  be  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs.  During  the  insur- 
rection of  Wallace,  the  younger  Bruce  acted  with  more  than 
usual  versatility.  Being  summoned  by  the  bishop  of  Car- 
lisle to  come  to  a  council  held  by  that  prelate,  who  had 
charge  of  the  peace  of  the  north,  he  made  appearance  ac- 
cordingly, took  every  oath  that  could  be  suggested  in 
attestation  of  his  faith  to  the  king  of  England,  showed 
his  zeal  by  plundering  the  lands  of  William  of  Douglas, 
the  associate  of  Wallace,  carried  that  baron's  wife  and 
family  away  prisoners;  and  having  done  all  this  to  evince 
his  faith  to  Edward,  he  united  himself  to  Wallace  and  his 
associates.  Once  more  Bruce  saw  reason  to  repent  the  part 
he  had  taken,  made  haste  anew  to  submit  to  the  king  of 
England,  again  swore  fealty  to  that  monarch,  and  gave  his 
infant  daughter  as  a  hostage  for  keeping  his  faith  in  future. 
As,  however,  he  did  not  join  the  English  army,  Edward  de- 
termined to  regard  him  as  a  cold-spirited  neutral,  arid  took 
into  English  possession  his  castle  of  Lochmaben.  This  created 
a  new  revolution  in  Bruce's  sentiments,  and  he  permitted 
himself  to  be  joined  in  the  Scottish  commission  of  regency, 
of  which  his  rival,  John  the  Red  Comyn,  was  a  distinguished 
member,  having  commanded,  as  we  observed,  at  the  memo- 
rable battle  of  Roslin.  It  does  not  appear  that  Bruce  was 
disposed  to  act  with  vigor  in  the  same  cause  that  was  espoused 
and  defended  by  his  feudal  enemy;  and  his  exertions  against 
the  cause  of  Edward  weie  so  cold  that,  upon  the  pacificatii  n 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  99 

between  Edward  and  the  Scots,  and  the  death  of  his  father 
in  1304,  Bruce  was  permitted  to  take  possession  of  his  pa- 
ternal estates,  while  Comyn,  as  the  greater  delinquent  in 
English  eyes,  was  subjected  to  a  severe  fine.  Bruce  also 
was  consulted  on  the  measures  by  which  Edward  proposed 
to  achieve  the  pacification  of  Scotland,  while  Comyn  was 
excluded  from  the  favor  and  the  councils  of  the  English 
monarch.  It  is  probable  that  Edward,  from  the  uncertain 
tenor  of  Bruce's  conduct,  was  disposed  to  rely  upon  him  as 
the  person  of  the  two  rivals  who  might  be  the  most  easily 
guided  and  influenced,  since  hitherto  his  conduct  had  been 
ruled  according  to  the  immediate  pressure  of  his  own  inter- 
est ;  and  the  zeal  which,  at  times,  he  had  discovered  for  the 
freedom  of  Scotland,  had  uniformly  cooled,  when  the  effects 
of  success  in  his  country's  cause  went  to  exalt  the  house  of 
Comyn,  and  render  that  of  Bruce  subordinate.  Thus  reck- 
oned Edward,  conceiving  that  self-interest  was  the  unfailing 
key  to  regulate  Bruce's  motions,  and  allowing  nothing  for 
those  strong  impulses,  which  often  change  the  whole  human 
character,  and  give  a  new  and  nobler  direction  to  one  who 
has  till  then  only  appeared  influenced  by  the  passions  and 
versatility  of  early  youth. 

In  1304,  Bruce  enjoyed  the  favor  and  confidence  of  King 
Edward,  and  was  one  of  those  in  whom  that  sagacious  mon- 
arch chiefly  trusted  for  securing  Scotland  to  his  footstool  for- 
ever. Such,  however,  was  far  from  being  the  intention  of 
the  young  Earl  of  Carrick.  Though  we  can  but  obscurely 
trace  what  his  purpose  really  was,  this  much  is  certain — a 
great  object  now  presented  itself,  which  formerly  was  not 
open  to  Bruce's  ambition.  In  the  insurrection  of  Wallace, 
and  the  subsequent  stand  made  after  the  battle  of  Falkirk 
by  the  commissioners  of  regency,  the  name  of  John  Baliol 
had  always  been  used  as  the  head  and  sovereign  of  Scotland, 
in  whose  right  its  natives  were  in  arms,  and  for  whom  they 
defended  their  country  against  the  English.  It  was  prob- 
ably the  high  influence  of  the  Comyns,  his  near  connections, 
which  kept  the  claims  of  Baliol  so  long  in  the  public  eye. 


100  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

But,  in  his  disgraceful  renunciation.,  followed  by  a  long  ab- 
sence from  Scotland,  after  renouncing  every  exertion  to  de- 
fend his  kingdom,  the  king,  Toom-tabard  (Empty  Coat),  as 
he  was  termed  by  the  people,  lost  all  respect  and  allegiance 
among  his  subjects,  nor  seems  there  to  have  been  any  who 
turned  to  him  with  any  sentiment  of  loyalty,  or  even  inter- 
est. The  crown  of  Scotland  was  therefore  open  to  any  dar- 
ing claimant  who  might  be  disposed  to  brave  the  fury  of  the 
English  usurper;  and  such  a  candidate  might  have  rested, 
with  some  degree  of  certainty,  upon  the  general  feeling  of 
the  Scottish  nation,  and  upon  that  disaffection  which,  like  a 
strong  ground-swell,  agitated  both  the  middle  classes  and 
populace  throughout  the  country,  who  were  disposed,  from 
the  spirit  of  independence  with  which  they  were  animated, 
to  follow  almost  any  banner  which  might  be  displayed  against 
England,  the  weight  of  whose  yoke  became  the  more  severe 
the  closer  it  was  riveted  on  their  necks. 

In  this  conjuncture  Bruce  entered  into  a  secret  treaty 
with  William  de  Lambyrton,  the  primate  of  Scotland,  bind- 
ing themselves  to  stand  by  each  other  against  all  mortals, 
the  terms  of  which  (the  king  of  England  not  being  excepted) 
plainly  inferred  some  desperate  enterprise.  It  was  thought 
necessary  to  discover  this  league  to  John  Comyn;  or,  per- 
haps, he  had  been  led  to  suspect  it,  and  such  a  communica- 
tion had  become  unavoidable  on  the  part  of  the  conspirators. 
Comyn  was  given  to  understand  that  the  purpose  of  the 
league  was  the  destruction  of  the  English  supremacy  in 
Scotland.  The  question  was  natural,  "And  what  king  do 
you  intend  to  propose?"  To  this  Bruce,  in  a  personal  con- 
ference with  John  Comyn,  is  said  to  have  pointed  out  to  him 
that  their  claims  to  the  throne  might  be  considered  as  equal : 
"therefore,"  said  Bruce,  "do  you  support  my  title  to  be  king 
of  Scots,  and  I  will  surrender  my  patrimonial  estates  to  you; 
or  give  over  to  me  your  family  possessions,  and  I  will  sup- 
port your  claim  to  the  throne."  Comyn,  it  is  said  by  the 
Scottish  historians,  ostensibly  embraced  the  alternative  of 
taking  Bruce's  large  property,  and  asserting  his  claim  to 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  101 

royalty.     But  in  secret  he  resolved  to  avail  himself  of  this 
discovery  to  betray  the  intrigues  of  his  rival  to  Edward. 

Robert  Bruce  had  returned  to  London,  and  was  hi  attend- 
ance on  the  English  court,  when  a  private  token  from  the 
Earl  of  Gloucester,  his  kinsman,  made  him  aware  that  his 
safety  and  liberty  were  in  danger. — It  is  said  the  Earl 
of  Gloucester  sent  Bruce  a  piece  of  money  and  a  pair  of 
spurs.  Men's  wits  are  sharpened  by  danger,  and  slighter 
intimations  have  been  sufficient  in  such  circumstances  to  put 
them  on  their  guard,  and  induce  them  to  take  measures  for 
their  safety  when  peril  hovered  over  them. — He  left  London 
instantly,  and  hastened  to  Scotland.  It  is  said  that  near  the 
Solway  Sands,  Bruce  and  his  attendants  met  an  emissary 
of  Coinyn,  who  was  despatched,  they  found,  for  the  English 
court.  They  killed  the  messenger  without  hesitation,  and 
from  the  contents  of  his  packet  learned  the  extent  of  Comyn*s 
treachery.  In  five  days  Bruce  reached  his  castle  of  Loch- 
maben. 

It  was  in  the  month  of  February,  1305-6 ;  and  the  En- 
glish justiciaries  appointed  by  Edward's  late  regulations  for 
preservation  of  the  peace  of  the  country  of  Scotland  were 
holding  their  assizes  at  Dumfries  for  that  purpose.  Bruce, 
not  yet  prepared  for  an  open  breach  with  England,  was 
under  the  necessity  of  rendering  attendance  on  this  high 
court  as  a  crown  vassal,  and  came  to  the  county-town  for 
that  purpose.  He  here  found  Comyn,  whom  the  same  duty 
had  brought  to  Dumfries.  Bruce  invited  his  rival  to  a  pri- 
vate interview,  which  was  held  hi  the  church  of  the  Friars 
Minorite ;  a  precaution — an  unavailing  one  as  it  proved — for 
the  safety  of  both  parties,  and  the  peaceful  character  of  the 
meeting.  They  met  by  themselves,  the  slender  retinue 
of  each  baron  remaining  apart,  and  without  the  church. 
Between  two  such  haughty  rivals  a  quarrel  was  sure  to 
arise,  whether  out  of  old  feud  or  recent  injury.  The  Scots 
historians  say  that  at  their  private  interview  Bruce  upbraided 
Comyn  with  his  treacherous  communication  to  Edward :  the 
English,  more  improbably,  state  that  he  then,  for  the  first  time, 


102  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

imparted  to  Comyn  his  plan  of  insurrection  against  England, 
which  Comyn  rejected  with  scorn,  and  that  this  gave  occa- 
sion to  what  followed.  Without  pretending  to  detail  what 
no  one  save  the  survivor  could  have  truly  described,  it  is 
certain  that  a  violent  altercation  took  place,  in  which  Comyn 
gave  Bruce  the  lie,  and  Bruce  in  reply  stabbed  Comyn  with 
his  dagger.  Confounded  at  the  rashness  of  his  own  action, 
in  a  place  so  sacred,  Bruce  hastened  out  of  the  sanctuary. 
There  stood  without  two  of  his  friends  and  adherents,  Kirk- 
patrick  of  Closeburne,  and  Lindsay,  a  younger  son  of  Lind- 
say of  Crawford.  They  saw  Bruce's  bloody  weapon  and 
disordered  demeanor,  and  inquired  eagerly  the  cause.  "I 
doubt,"  said  Bruce,  "I  have  slain  the  Red  Comyn."  "Do 
you  trust  that  to  doubt?"  said  Kirkpatrick;  "I  make  sure"; 
so  saying,  he  rushed  into  the  church,  and  despatched  the 
wounded  man.  Sir  Robert  Comyn,  the  uncle  of  John,  inter- 
fered to  save  his  kinsman,  but  was  slam  along  with  him. 
The  English  justiciaries,  hearing  this  tumult,  barricaded 
themselves  in  the  hall  where  they  administered  justice. 
Bruce,  however,  compelled  them  to  surrender,  by  putting 
fire  to  their  place  of  retreat,  and  thereafter  dismissed  them 
in  safety. 

This  rash  act  of  anger  and  impatience  broke  off  all  chance 
which  might  still  have  remained  to  Bruce  of  accommodating 
matters  with  Edward,  who  now  knew  his  schemes  of  insur- 
rection, and  must  have  regarded  Comyn  as  a  victim  of  his 
fidelity  to  the  English  government.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
circumstances  attending  the  slaughter  were  marked  with 
sacrilege  and  breach  of  a  solemn  sanctuary,  so  as  to  render 
the  act  of  homicide  detestable  in  the  eyes  of  all,  save  those 
who  from  a  strong  feeling  of  common  interest  might  be  in- 
clined to  make  common  cause  with  the  perpetrator.  This 
interest  could  only  exist  among  the  Scottish  patriots,  who 
might  see  in  Bruce  the  vindicator  of  his  country's  liberty 
and  his  own  right  to  the  crown ;  claims  so  sacred  as  to  justify 
in  their  eyes  his  enforcing  them  against  the  treacherous  con- 
fidant who  had  betrayed  the  secret  to  the  foreign  usurper, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  103 

even  with  the  dagger's  point,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  altar. 
Bruce  was,  therefore,  in  a  position  as  critical  as  if  he  had 
stood  midway  up  a  dizzy  precipice,  where  the  path  was  cut 
away  behind  him.  The  crown  of  Scotland  hung  within  a 
possibility  of  his  reaching  it;  and  though  the  effort  was 
necessarily  attended  with  a  great  risk  of  failure,  yet  an 
attempt  to  retreat  in  any  other  direction  must  have  been 
followed  by  inevitable  destruction.  Sensible  of  the  perils 
of  the  choice,  Bruce,  therefore,  resolved  to  claim  the  throne, 
with  the  unalterable  resolution  either  to  free  his  country 
or  perish  hi  the  attempt. 

He  retired  from  Dumfries  into  the  adjoining  wilds  of 
Nithsdale,  and  resided  in  obscurity  in  the  hut  of  a  poor  man, 
near  the  remarkable  hill  called  the  Dun  of  Tynron.  Mean- 
time he  sent  messengers  abroad  in  every  direction,  to  collect 
his  friends  and  followers  through  his  extensive  estates,  and 
to  warn  such  nobles  as  he  knew  to  be  favorable  to  Scottish 
independence.  But  their  numbers  were  but  few,  and  they 
were  ill  prepared  for  a  hasty  summons.  His  own  family 
supplied  him  with  four  bold  brethren,  all  men  of  hardihood 
and  skill  in  arms.  His  nephew,  afterward  the  celebrated 
Thomas  Randolph,  and  his  brother-in-law,  Christopher  Sea- 
ton,  also  followed  the  cause  of  their  relation.  Of  churchmen, 
the  primate  of  Scotland,  the  bishop  of  Glasgow,  and  the 
abbot  of  Scone,  joined  hi  the  undertaking,  together  with  the 
Earls  of  Lennox  and  of  Athol,  and  some  fourteen  barons, 
with  whose  assistance  Bruce  was  daring  enough  to  defy  the 
whole  strength  of  England.  He  went  from  Dumfriesshire 
to  Glasgow,  where  he  determined  to  take  the  decisive  meas- 
ure of  celebrating  his  coronation  at  Scone.  On  his  road 
thither,  Bruce  was  joined  by  a  warrior,  who  continued  till 
his  death  the  best  and  most  disinterested  of  his  friends  and 
adherents.  This  was  the  young  Sir  James  of  Douglas,  son 
of  William  of  Douglas,  the  heroic  companion  of  "Wallace, 
and,  like  his  father,  devoted  to  the  independence  of 
Scotland. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  1306,  the  ceremony  of  crowning 


104  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Bruce  was  performed  at  Scone  with  as  much  state  as  the 
means  of  the  united  barons  would  permit.  Edward  had 
carried  off  the  royal  crowii  of  Scotland :  a  slight  coronet  of 
gold  was  hastily  made  to  supply  its  place.  The  Earls  of  Fife 
had,  since  the  days  of  Malcolm  Cean-mohr,  uniformly  pos- 
sessed and  exercised  the  right  of  placing  the  crown  on  the 
king's  head  at  his  coronation,  in  memory  of  the  high  services 
rendered  by  their  ancestor,  Macduff,  to  that  monarch.  On 
this  occasion  the  Earl  of  Fife  did  not  attend ;  but  the  right 
was,  contrary  to  his  inclination,  exercised  by  his  sister,  Isa- 
bella, the  countess  of  Buchan,  who  absconded  from  her 
husband,  in  order  that  the  blood  of  Macduff  might  render 
the  service  due  to  the  heir  of  Malcolm  Cean-mohr.  For  this 
she  was  afterward  strangely  and  cruelly  punished  by  Ed- 
ward I. 

Although  the  figure  which  Robert  Bruce  had  hitherto 
made  in  public  life  was  of  a  fickle  and  apparently  selfish 
description,  yet  his  character  for  chivalrous  accomplishments 
stood  high,  and  when  he  took  the  field  many  of  Wallace's 
old  followers  began  to  join  him. 

Meantime  Edward  directed  Aymer  de  Valence,  earl  of 
Pembroke,  under  the  title  of  guardian  of  Scotland,  to  pro- 
ceed to  put  down  the  rebellion  in  that  kingdom.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Lord  Clifford  and  Henry  Percy.  The  king 
himself  was  then  ill,  and  scarce  able  to  mount  on  horseback ; 
nevertheless  he  celebrated,  with  feudal  solemnities,  the  day 
on  which  he  conferred  the  dignity  of  knighthood  upon  the 
Prince  of  Wales  and  three  hundred  young  gentlemen,  the 
heirs  of  the  first  families  in  England.  In  the  course  of  a 
high  festival,  celebrated  on  this  occasion,  two  swans,  richly 
adorned  with  gold  network,  were  placed  on  the  table,  and 
the  king  made  a  vow  (according  to  the  singular  custom  of 
the  age)  to  God  and  to  the  swans,  that  he  would  forthwith 
set  out  for  Scotland  to  punish  the  treachery  of  his  Scottish 
rebels,  as  it  pleased  him  to  call  Bruce  and  his  followers,  and 
avenge  the  death  of  Sir  John  Comyn.  He  then  adjured 
his  son,  that,  should  he  die  in  the  expedition,  his  bones 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  105 

should  be  preserved,  and  borne  at  the  head  of  the  army, 
till  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  was  entirely  subdued. 

Meanwhile  Bruce,  against  whom  these  vindictive  prep- 
arations were  directed,  was  engaged  hi  strengthening  his 
party  without  any  considerable  success.  His  enterprise  was 
regarded  as  desperate,  even  by  his  own  wife  (according  ,to 
the  English  authorities),  who,  while  he  boasted  to  her  of  the 
sovereign  rank  he  had  obtained,  said  to  him,  "You  are,  in- 
deed, a  summer  king;  but  you  will  scarce  be  a  winter  one." 
He  appears  to  have  sought  an  encounter  with  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  who,  with  an  army  of  English,  had  thrown  him- 
self into  the  fortified  town  of  Perth.  Bruce  arrived  before 
the  town  with  a  host  inferior  to  that  of  the  English  earl  by 
fifteen  hundred  men-at-arms.  Nevertheless  he  sent  Pem- 
broke a  challenge  to  come  forth  and  fight.  The  English- 
man replied,  he  would  meet  him  on  the  morrow.  Bruce  re- 
tired to  the  neighboring  wood  of  Methven,  where  he  took  .up 
his  quarters  for  the  night,  expecting  no  battle  until  next 
day.  But  Pembroke's  purpose  was  different  from  what  he 
expressed.  He  caused  his  men  instantly  to  take  arms,  though 
the  day  was  far  spent,  and,  sallying  from  the  town  of  Perth, 
assaulted  with  fury  the  Scots,  who  were  in  their  cantonments 
and  taken  at  unawares.  They  fought  boldly  and  Bruce  him- 
self was  thrice  unhorsed.  At  one  moment  he  was  prisoner 
in  the  hands  of  Sir  Philip  de  Mowbray,  who  shouted  aloud 
that  he  had  taken  the  new  king.  Christopher  Seaton  struck 
Mowbray  to  the  earth,  and  rescued  his  brother-in-law.  About 
four  hundred  of  the  Scots  kept  together,  and  effected  their 
escape  to  the  wilds  of  Athol.  Several  prisoners  were  made, 
and  some  pardoned  or  admitted  to  ransom;  but  those  of  dis- 
tinction were  pitilessly  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered.  Young 
Randolph,  Bruce's  nephew,  submitted  to  the  king  of  England, 
and  was  admitted  to  favor. 

Bruce,  seeing  his  party  almost  totally  dissipated  by  the 
defeat  at  Methven,  was  obliged  to  support  himself  and  the 
few  who  remained  with  him,  among  whom  were  his  own 
wife,  and  many  other  ladies,  by  the  toils  of  the  chase,  in 


106  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

which  it  was  remarked  that  the  zeal  and  address  of  Douglas 
distinguished  him  above  others  of  Bruce's  band,  by  the 
contributions  which  he  brought  to  the  relief  of  the  ladies. 
From  Athol  the  noble  fugitives  retreated  into  Aberdeenshire, 
and  from  thence  they  approached  the  borders  of  Argyleshire. 
Hitherto  they  had  been  safe  from  enemies  in  the  fastnesses 
of  a  desolate  and  thinly-peopled  country,  and  the  produce  of 
the  chase  had  been  sufficient  to  sustain  their  wants.  But 
they  were  now  compelled  to  approach  a  hostile  country, 
where  battle  was  to  be  expected.  Winter  was  approaching, 
and  threatened  not  only  to  diminish  their  supplies  of  suste- 
nance, but  was  likely,  by  the  rigor  of  the  weather,  to  render 
it  impossible  for  their  females  any  longer  to  accompany 
them.  For  himself,  the  fugitive  king  seems  to  have  shaped 
his  course  under  the  guidance  of  Sir  Neil  Campbell,  of  Loch- 
Awe  (ancestor  of  the  great  house  of  Argyle),  who  had  under- 
taken to  procure  the  king  some  refuge  among  the  islands,  or 
on  the  adjacent  mainland  of  Cantire. 

Hitherto  Bruce  and  his  companions  in  wandering  appear 
to  have  experienced  neither  favor  nor  opposition  from  the  in- 
habitants of  the  districts  through  which  they  rambled ;  but 
most  part  of  the  shire  of  Argyle,  which  they  now  approached, 
was  under  the  command  of  a  powerful  chief  called  Macdou- 
gal,  or  John  of  Lorn.  This  prince  had  married  an  aunt  of 
the  slaughtered  John  Comyn,  and  desired  nothing  with  more 
ardor  than  an  opportunity  to  revenge  the  death  of  his  ally 
upon  the  homicide.  Accordingly,  when  Bruce  attempted  to 
penetrate  into  Argyleshire  at  the  head  of  his  company,  he 
was  opposed  by  John  of  Lorn,  who  encountered  him  at  a 
place  called  Dairy  (i.e.,  the  king's  field),  near  the  head  of 
Strathfillan.  The  Highlandmen  being  on  foot,  and  armed 
with  long  pole-axes,  called  Lochaber-axes,  attacked  the  little 
band  of  Bruce  where  the  knights  had  no  room  to  manage 
their  horses,  and  did  them  much  injury.  Bruce,  compelled 
to  turn  back,  placed  himself  in  the  rear  of  his  followers,  and 
protected  their  retreat  with  the  utmost  gallantry.  Three 
Highlanders,  a  father  and  two  sons,  assaulted  him  at  once ; 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  10.7 

but  Bruce,  completely  armed,  and  excellent  at  the  use  of  his 
weapon,  rid  himself  of  them  by  despatching  them  one  after 
another.  "Look  at  him,"  said  John  of  Lorn,  in  unwilling 
admiration;  "he  guards  his  men  from  us,  as  Gaul,  the  son 
of  Morni,  protected  his  host  from  the  fury  of  Fingal."— The 
comparison  was  taken  from  some  of  the  ancient  Gaelic  poems 
composed  by,  or  imputed  to,  the  Celtic  bard,  Ossian.  But 
the  reader  will  not  find  the  incident  in  the  English  work  of 
Macpherson. 

Driven  back  from  the  road  by  which  he  had  purposed  to 
approach  the  western  isles,  where  he  had  some  hopes  of  find- 
ing shelter,  Bruce  labored  under  great  and  increasing  diffi- 
culties, the  first  effect  of  which  was  to  compel  him  to  sepa- 
rate the  ladies  from  his  company.  His  younger  brother, 
Nigel  Bruce,  was  sent  to  conduct  the  queen  and  her  attend- 
ants back  to  Aberdeenshire,  where  his  brother  was  still 
master  of  a  strong  castle,  called  Kildrummie,  which  might 
serve  them  for  some  time  as  a  place  of  refuge.  We  shall 
afterward  give  some  account  of  their  evil  fortune. 

As  Bruce  and  his  band  had  in  their  retreat  before  Mac- 
dougal  fallen  down  considerably  to  the  southward  of  Dairy, 
where  they  had  sustained  their  late  defeat,  Loch  Lomond 
was  now  interposed  between  them  and  the  province  of  Can- 
tire  and  the  western  coast.  A  little  boat,  capable  of  carry- 
ing only  three  men  at  once,  was  the  only  means  to  be  found 
for  the  purpose  of  passing  over  two  hundred  persons.  To 
divert  his  attendants  during  this  tiresome  ferry,  the  Bruce 
amused  them  with  reading  the  adventures  of  Ferambras,  a 
fabulous  hero  of  a  metrical  romance;  a  legend  in  which 
they  might  find  encouragement  to  patience  under  difficulties 
scarcely  more  romantic  than  those  which  they  themselves 
were  subjected  to. 

On  the  banks  of  Loch  Lomond,  Bruce  met  with  the  Earl 
of  Lennox,  who,  wandering  there  for  protection,  discovered 
the  king  was  in  his  neighborhood,  by  hearing  a  bugle  sounded 
with  an  art  which  he  knew  to  be  peculiar  to  his  master.  They 
met,  embraced,  and  wept.  By  the  guidance  and  assistance 


108  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

of  Lennox,  Bruce  reached  the  province  of  Cantire,  then  sub- 
ject to  Angus,  called  Lord  of  the  Isles.  Here  the  king  met 
with  Sir  Neil  Campbell,  who  had  gone  before  him  to  propiti- 
ate this  powerful  Highland  prince,  whose  favor  was  the  more 
easily  obtained  that  he  was  unfriendly  to  John  Macdougal  of 
Lorn,  the  personal  enemy  of  Kobert  Bruce.  This  Angus  was 
also  the  descendant  of  the  renowned  Somerled,  and  head  of 
the  sept  of  the  Macdonalds,  the  most  powerful  scion  of  those 
original  Scots  who  colonized  Argyleshire  under  Fergus,  the 
son  of  Eric,  and  who,  seated  in  Cantire,  Islay,  and  the  other 
western  islands,  had,  since  the  death  of  Alexander  III., 
nearly  shaken  off  subordination  to  the  crown  of  Scotland, 
and  paid  as  little  respect  to  the  English  claim  upon  their 
supremacy. 

Though  Bruce  was  received  by  the  Lord  of  the  Isles  with 
kindness  and  hospitality,  he  was  probably  sensible  that  his 
residence  on  or  near  the  mainland  of  Scotland  might  draw 
down  on  his  protector  the  vengeance  of  Edward,  against 
whom  the  insular  prince  could  not  have  offered  an  effectual 
defence.  He  therefore  resolved  to  bury  himself  in  the  re- 
mote island  of  Rachrin,  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  a  rude  and 
half -desolate  islet,  but  inhabited  by  the  clan  of  Macdonalds, 
and  subject  to  then*  friendly  lord.  By  this  retreat,  he  effected 
his  purpose  of  secluding  himself  from  the  jealous  researches 
made  after  him  by  the  adherents  of  the  English  monarch, 
and  the  feudal  hatred  of  John  of  Lorn.  Here  Bruce  con- 
tinued to  lurk  in  concealment  during  the  winter  of  1306. 

In  the  meantime  his  friends  and  adherents  hi  Scotland 
suffered  all  the  miseries  which  the  rage  of  an  exasperated 
and  victorious  sovereign  could  inflict.  His  wife  and  his 
daughter  were  taken  forcibly  from  the  sanctuary  of  St. 
Duthac,  at  Tain,  and  consigned  to  the  severities  of  separate 
English  prisons,  where  they  remained  for  eight  years.  The 
Countess  of  Buchan,  who  had  placed  the  crown  on  the 
Brace's  head,  was  immured  in  a  place  of  confinement  con- 
structed expressly  for  her  reception  on  the  towers  of  the 
castle  of  Berwick,  where  the  sight  of  her  prison  might  make 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  109 

her  the  subject  of  wonder  or  scorn  to  all  that  passed.  The 
bishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  the  bishop  of  Glasgow,  and  the  ab- 
bot of  Scone,  taken  in  arms,  were  imprisoned  by  Edward, 
who  applied  to  the  pope  for  their  degradation,  in  which, 
however,  he  did  not  succeed.  Nigel  Bruce,  a  gallant  and 
beautiful  as  well  as  highly  accomplished  youth,  held  out  in 
his  brother's  castle  of  Kildrummie  till  a  traitoi  in  the  garri- 
son set  fire  to  the  principal  magazine,  when  surrender  became 
inevitable.  He  was  tried,  condemned,  and  executed.  Chris- 
topher Seaton,  who  so  gallantly  rescued  the  Bruce  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Methven,  shared  with  his  brother-in-law  the  same  mel- 
ancholy fate.  The  vengeance  of  Edward  did  not  spare  his 
own  blood.  The  Earl  of  Athol  had  some  relationship  with 
the  royal  family  of  England ;  but  the  circumstance  having 
been  pleaded  in  favor  of  the  earl,  Edward  only  gave  so  much 
weight  to  it  as  to  assign  him  the  distinction  of  a  gallows  fifty 
feet  high. 

Simon  Fraser,  one  of  the  commanders  at  the  victory  of 
Roslin  (the  other  being  the  unfortunate  John  Comyn),  still 
disdained  to  surrender,  and  continued  in  arms,  till,  being 
defeated  at  a  place  called  Kirkincliffe,  near  Stirling,  he  was 
finally  made  prisoner,  exposed  to  the  people  of  London  loaded 
with  fetters,  crowned  with  a  garland  in  mockery,  and  exe- 
cuted with  all  the  studied  cruelty  of  the  treason  law.  The 
citizens  were  taught  to  believe  that  demons,  with  iron  hooks, 
were  seen  ramping  on  the  gibbets,  among  the  dismembered 
limbs  of  these  unfortunate  men,  as  they  were  exposed  upon 
the  bridge  of  London.  The  inference  was  that  the  fiends 
were  in  like  manner  employed  in  tormenting  the  souls  of 
men,  whose  crimes,  so  far  as  we  know  them,  were  summed 
up  in  their  endeavors  to  defend  their  country  from  a  foreign 
yoke. 

To  add  to  the  disastrous  deaths  of  his  friends  and  associ- 
ates, the  fate  of  Bruce  personally  seemed  utterly  destitute. 
He  was  forfeited  by  the  English  government  as  a  man  guilty 
of  murder  and  sacrilege,  and  his  large  estates,  extending 
from  Galloway  to  the  Solway  Firth,  were  bestowed  on  dif - 


110  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

ferent  English  nobles,  of  which  Sir  Henry  Percy  and  Lord 
Robert  Clifford  had  the  greatest  share.  ^.  formal  sentence 
of  excommunication  was  at  the  same  time  pronounced  against 
him  by  the  papal  legate,  with  all  the  terrific  pomp  with  which 
Borne  knows  how  to  volley  her  thunders. 

Thus  closed  the  year  1306  upon  Scotland.  The  king,  lurk- 
ing in  an  obscure  isle  beyond  the  verge  of  his  dominions,  an 
outlawed  man,  deprived  at  once  of  all  civil  and  religious 
rights,  and  expelled  from  the  privileges  of  a  Christian,  in 
as  far  as  Rome  had  power  to  effect  it;  the  heads  and  limbs 
of  his  best  and  bravest  adherents,  men  like  Seaton  and 
Fraser,  who  had  upheld  the  cause  of  their  country  through 
every  species  of  peril,  blackening  in  the  sun  on  the  walls  of 
their  own  native  cities,  or  garnishing  those  of  their  vindic- 
tive enemy.  But  in  these,  as  in  similar  cases,  Heaven  fre- 
quently sends  assistance  when  man  seems  without  hope,  as 
the  darkest  hour  of  the  night  is  often  that  which  precedes 
the  dawning. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  111 


CHAPTER  IX 

Bruce  returns  to  Scotland,  lands  in  Arran,  and  passes  from  thence 
to  Ayrshire — Success  of  his  Adherent  James  Douglas — Capture 
and  Execution  of  Bruce's  Brothers,  Thomas  and  Alexander — 
The  English  evacuate  Ayrshire — Bruce's  reputation  increases — 
Edward  I.  marches  against  him,  but  dies  in  sight  of  Scotland — 
Edward  II. 's  vacillating  Measures — Bruce  in  the  North  of  Scot- 
land: defeats  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  and  ravages  his  Country — 
His  further  Successes — Defeat  of  the  Lord  of  Lorn  at  Crua- 
chan-ben — Feeble  and  irresolute  Conduct  of  Edward  contrasted 
with  the  Firmness  of  Bruce  and  the  Scottish  Clergy  and  People 
— Inefficient  Attempt  of  Edward  to  invade  Scotland — Bruce 
ravages  the  English  Borders:  takes  Perth — Roxburgh  Castle 
surprised  by  Douglas,  Edinburgh  by  Randolph,  Linlithgow  by 
Binnock — The  Isle  of  Man  subdued  by  Bruce — The  Governor  of 
Stirling  agrees  to  surrender  the  Place  if  not  relieved  before 
Midsummer — Bruce  is  displeased  with  his  Brother  Edward  for 
accepting  these  Terms,  yet  resolves  to  abide  by  them — King 
Edward  makes  formidable  Preparations  to  relieve  Stirling 

WITH  the  return  of  spring,  hope  and  the  spirit  of 
enterprise  again  inspired  the  dauntless  heart 
of  Robert  Bruce.  He  made  a  descent  on  the 
isle  of  Arran,  with  the  view  of  passing  from  thence  to 
the  Scottish  mainland.  A  faithful  vassal  in  his  earldom 
of  Carrick  engaged  to  watch  when  a  landing  could  be 
made  with  some  probability  of  success,  and  intimate  the 
opportunity  to  Bruce.  The  signal  agreed  upon  was  a  fire 
to  be  lighted  by  the  vassal  on  the  cape  or  headland  beneath 
Turnberry  Castle,  upon  seeing  which,  it  was  resolved  Bruce 
should  embark  with  his  men.  The  light,  long  watched  for, 
at  length  appeared ;  but  it  had  not  been  kindled  by  Bruce's 
confidant.  The  king  sailed  to  the  mainland  without  hesita- 
tion, and  was  astonished  to  find  his  emissary  watching  on 


112  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

the  beach,  to  tell  him  the  fire  was  accidental,  the  English 
were  reinforced,  the  people  dispirited,  and  there  was  noth- 
ing to  be  attempted  with  a  prospect  of  success.  Robert 
Bruce  hesitated ;  but  his  brother  Edward,  a  man  of  courage 
which  reached  to  temerity,  protested  that  he  would  not  go 
again  to  sea,  but  being  thus  arrived  in  his  native  country, 
would  take  the  good  or  evil  destiny  which  Heaven  might 
send  him.  Robert  himself  was  easily  persuaded  to  adopt 
the  same  bold  counsel ;  and  a  sudden  attack  upon  a  part  of 
the  English,  who  were  quartered  in  the  town,  gave  them 
victory  and  a  rich  booty,  as  Percy,  who  lay  in  the  castle, 
did  not  venture  to  sally  to  the  relief  of  his  men. 

This  advantage  was  followed  by  others.  It  seemed  as  if 
fortune  had  exhausted  her  spite  on  the  dauntless  adventurer, 
or  that  Heaven  regarded  him  as  having  paid  an  ample  pen- 
ance for  the  slaughter  of  Comyn. 

Bruce  was  joined  by  friends  and  followers,  and  the  En- 
glish were  compelled  to  keep  their  garrisons ;  until  Sir  Henry 
Percy,  instead  of  making  head  against  the  invader,  deemed 
it  necessary  to  evacuate  Turnberry  Castle,  and  retreat  "to 
England.  James  Douglas  penetrated  into  his  own  country 
in  disguise,  and  collecting  some  of  his  ancient  followers, 
surprised  the  English  garrison  placed  by  Lord  Clifford  in 
Douglas  Castle,  and  putting  the  garrison  to  the  sword,  min- 
gled the  mangled  bodies  with  a  large  stock  of  provisions 
which  the  English  had  amassed,  and  set  fire  to  the  castle. 
The  country  people  to  this  day  call  this  exploit  the  Douglas's 
larder. 

The  efforts  of  Bruce  were  not  uniformly  successful.  Two 
of  his  brothers,  Thomas  and  Alexander,  had  landed  in  Gallo- 
way, but  were  defeated  and  made  prisoners  by  Roland  Mac- 
dougal,  a  chief  of  that  country  who  was  devoted  to  England. 
He  sent  the  unfortunate  brothers  to  Edward,  who  executed 
them  both,  and  became  thus  accountable  to  Bruce  for  the 
death  of  three  of  his  brethren.  This  accident  rendered  the 
king's  condition  more  precarious  than  it  had  been,  and  en- 
couraged the  Gallovidians  to  make  many  attempts  against 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  113 

his  person,  in  some  of  which  they  made  use  of  bloodhounds. 
At  one  time  he  escaped  so  narrowly  that  his  banner  was 
taken,  and,  as  it  happened,  by  his  own  nephew,  Thomas 
Randolph,  then  employed  in  the  ranks  of  the  English. 
"When  pressed  upon  on  this  and  similar  occasions,  it  was 
the  custom  of  Bruce  to  elude  the  efforts  of  the  enemy  by 
dispersing  his  followers,  who,  each  shifting  for  himself, 
knew  where  to  meet  again  at  some  place  of  rendezvous, 
and  often  surprised  and  put  to  the  sword  some  part  of  the 
enemy  which  were  lying  in  full  assurance  of  safety. 

At  length,  after  repeated  actions  and  a  long  series  of 
marching  and  counter-marching,  Pembroke  was  forced  to 
abandon  Ayrshire  to  the  Bruce,  as  Percy  had  done  before 
him.  Douglas  on  his  part  was  successful  in  Lanarkshire, 
and  the  numerous  patriots  resumed  the  courage  which  they 
had  possessed  under  Wallace.  A  battle  was  fought  at  Lou- 
doun  Hill,  in  consequence  of  an  express  appointment,  be- 
tween Bruce  and  his  old  enemy,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who 
was  returning  to  the  west  with  considerable  reinforcements, 
the  10th  of  May,  1307,  in  which  the  Scottish  king  completely 
avenged  the  defeat  at  Methven.  Pembroke  fled  to  Ayr,  in 
which  place  of  refuge  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  was  also  forced 
to  seek  safety.  By  these  and  similar  skirmishes,  in  which 
his  perfect  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  partisan  warfare 
enabled  him  to  take  every  advantage  afforded  by  the  excel- 
lence of  his  intelligence  arising  from  the  goodwill  of  the 
country,  or  by  circumstances  of  ground,  weather,  weapons, 
and  the  like,  the  Scottish  king  gradually  accustomed  hia 
men  to  repose  so  much  confidence  in  his  skill  and  wisdom 
that  his  orders  for  battle  were  regarded  as  a  call  to  assured 
victory.  He  himself,  James  Douglas,  and  others  among  his 
followers,  displayed  at  the  same  time  all  that  personal  and 
chivalrous  valor,  which  the  manners  of  the  age  demanded 
of  a  leader,  and  which  often  restored  a  battle  when  well- 
nigh  lost.  It  was  to  these  latter  qualities  also,  as  well  as 
to  precaution  and  sagacity,  that  Bruce  was  indebted  for  his 
escape  from  several  treacherous  attempts  to  take  away  his 


114  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

life,  by  the  friends  of  the  slaughtered  Comyn,  or  the  ad- 
herents of  the  king  of  England.  Several  of  such  assassins 
were  slain  by  Robert  with  his  own  hand;  and  a  general 
opinion,  long  suppressed  by  the  former  course  of  adverse 
events,  began  to  be  entertained  through  Scotland,  that 
Heaven,  in  the  hour  of  utmost  need,  had  raised  up  in  the 
heir  of  the  Scottish  throne  a  prince  destined  by  Providence 
to  deliver  his  country,  and  that  no  weapon  forged  against 
him  should  prosper. 

The  gradual  and  increasing  reputation  of  Bruce,  the  re- 
nown of  his  exploits,  the  talents  which  his  conduct  proved 
him  to  possess,  reached  the  ears  of  Edward  the  First  more 
and  more  frequently,  and  stung  the  aged  sovereign  with  the 
most  acute  sense  of  wounded  pride  and  mortified  ambition. 
In  fulfilment  of  his  romantic  vow  to  Heaven  and  the  swans, 
Edward  had  advanced  as  far  as  Carlisle,  to  open  his  pro- 
posed campaign  against  the  Scots,  but  had  been  detained 
there  during  the  whole  winter  by  the  wasting  effects  of  a 
dysentery.  As  the  season  of  action  approached,  and  the 
rumors  of  Bruce's  success  increased,  the  king  persuaded 
himself  that  resentment  would  restore  him  the  strength 
which  age  and  disease  had  impaired.  It  was,  indeed,  a 
mortifying  condition  in  which  he  found  himself.  For  the 
space  of  nineteen  or  twenty  years  the  conquest  of  Scotland 
had  been  the  darling  object  of  his  thoughts  and  plans.  It 
had  cost  him  the  utmost  exertion  of  his  bold  and  crafty  fac- 
ulties— blood  had  been  shed  without  measure — wealth  lav- 
ished without  grudging,  to  accomplish  this  darling  plan; 
and  now,  when  disease  had  abated  his  strength  and  energies, 
he  was  doomed  to  see  from  his  sick  bed  the  hills  of  Scotland, 
while  he  knew  that  they  were  still  free.  As  if  endeavoring 
to  restore  by  a  strong  effort  of  the  mind  the  failing  strength 
of  his  body,  he  declared  himself  recovered,  hung  up  in  the 
cathedral  the  hol*se-litter  in  which  he  had  hitherto  travelled, 
but  which  he  conceived  he  should  need  no  longer,  and, 
mounting  his  war-horse,  proceeded  northward.  It  was  too 
forced  an  effort  to  be  continued  long.  Edward  only  reached 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  115 

the  village  of  Burgh  on  the  Sands,  and  expired  there  on  the 
7th  July,  1307.  On  his  deathbed,  his  thoughts  were  entirely 
on  the  Scottish  affairs :  he  made  his  son  swear  that  he  would 
prosecute  the  war  without  truce  or  breathing-space;  he  re- 
peated the  strange  injunction,  that  his  flesh  being  boiled 
from  his  bones,  the  latter  should  be  transported  at  the  head 
of  the  army  with  which  he  was  about  to  invade  Scotland, 
and  never  be  restored  to  the  tomb  till  that  obstinate  nation 
was  entirely  subdued.  By  way  of  corollary  to  this  singular 
precept,  the  dying  king  bequeathed  his  heart  to  be  sent  to 
the  Holy  Land,  hi  whose  defence  he  had  once  fought. 

Edward  II. ,  the  feeble  yet  headstrong  successor  of  the 
most  sagacious  and  resolute  of  English  princes,  neglected 
the  extraordinary  direction  of  the  dying  monarch  respecting 
the  disposal  of  his  body,  which  he  caused  to  be  interred  at 
Westminster  (by  which  means  the  bones  of  Edward  I.  prob- 
ably escaped  falling  into  Scottish  custody) ;  and  naming  first 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  afterward  John  de  Bretagne, 
earl  of  Richmond,  in  his  room,  to  be  guardian  of  Scotland, 
he  himself  found  it  more  agreeable  to  hasten  back  to  share 
the  pleasures  of  London  with  Qaveston  and  his  other  min- 
ions, than  to  undertake  the  difficult  and  laborious  task  of 
subduing  Bruce  and  his  hardy  associates. 

The  English  guardian,  however,  did  his  duty,  and  soon 
assembled  a  force  so  superior  to  that  of  Bruce  that  the  king 
thought  it  necessary  to  shift  the  war  into  the  northern  parts 
of  Scotland,  where  the  enemy  could  not  be  so  suddenly  rein- 
forced. He  left  the  indefatigable  James  of  Douglas  to  carry 
on  the  war  in  the  wooded  and  mountainous  district  of 
Ettricke  forest. 

In  Aberdeenshire  King  Robert  was  joined  by  Sir  Alexan- 
der and  Sir  Simon  Fraser,  sons  of  the  gallant  hero  of  Roslin. 
But  he  was  opposed  by  Comyn,  earl  of  Buchan,  who  to 
party  hatred  added  an  eager  desire  to  revenge  the  death 
of  his  kinsman  slain  by  Bruce.  The  time  seemed  favorable 
for  his  purpose,  for  Bruce  was  at  this  time  afflicted  with  a 
lingering  and  wasting  distemper,  which  impaired  his  health 


116  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

and  threatened  his  life.  In  this  condition,  he  thought  it  wise 
to  retreat  before  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  who  at  length  pressed 
so  closely  on  his  rear  as  to  beat  up  their  quarters  in  the  town 
of  Old  Meldrum,  and  cause  some  loss.  "These  folks  will 
work  a  cure  on  me,"  said  Bruce,  starting  from  the  litter 
which  he  had  been  of  late  compelled  to  use;  and  rushing 
into  battle,  though  obliged  to  be  supported  in  his  saddle, 
he  was  so  actively  seconded  by  his  troops  that  he  totally 
defeated  the  Earl  of  Buchan ;  and  in  reward  for  the  perti- 
nacity with  which  that  lord  had  pursued  him,  he  ravaged 
his  country  so  severely  that  the  herrying  of  Buchan  was 
the  subject  of  lamentation  for  a  hundred  years  afterward, 
and  traces  of  the  devastation  may  be  even  yet  seen. 

After  this  action  Sir  David  de  Brechin,  the  Brace's 
nephew,  who  had  formerly  taken  part  with  the  Earl  of 
Buchan,  is  said  to  have  joined  his  uncle;  yet  in  1312, 
nearly  three  years  afterward,  we  find  him  again  employed 
by  Edward ;  so  sudden  were  changes  of  party  in  these  un- 
settled times,  even  among  men  who  held  a  high  character 
for  faith  and  honor.  In  the  "Rotulse  Scotise,"  as  quoted 
by  Mr.  Tytler,  Edward  employs  David  de  Brechin  as  joint 
warden  with  Montfichet.  The  citizens  of  Aberdeen  also 
declared  in  Bruce's  favor,  and  adding  acts  to  professions, 
stormed  and  took  the  castle,  and  expelled  the  English  gar- 
rison. The  citadel  of  Forfar  was  also  taken,  and  both  fort- 
resses were  demolished  by  order  of  Bruce;  a  course  of  policy 
which  he  always  observed,  because,  as  the  English  were 
more  skilful  in  the  attack  and  defence  of  fortified  places,  the 
existence  of  such  afforded  them  facilities  both  in  gaining 
and  securing  their  possessions  in  Scotland  which  could  not 
have  existed  if  the  country  had  been  open  and  not  com- 
manded by  citadels  or  castles. 

While  victory  thus  attended  his  own  banners  in  the  north 
of  Scotland,  King  Robert  despatched  parties  of  his  followers, 
under  his  best  leaders,  to  spread  the  insurrection  into  other 
districts,  and  by  diverting  the  attention  of  the  English  in- 
vaders, prevent  them  from  assembling  a  large  force  and  fin- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  117 

ishing  the  war  by  a  single  blow,  as  at  Dunbar  and  Falkirk. 
Edward  Bruce  fought  and  won  several  actions  against  the 
English  in  Galloway,  as  well  as  against  the  natives  of  that 
barbarous  country,  who  had  always  taken  part  against  the 
Bruce's  interest.  He  gained  these  successes  through  exer- 
tion of  a  reckless  courage  which  defied  all  the  usual  calcula- 
tions of  prudence.  At  length,  after  a  severe  defeat  given  to 
the  native  chiefs  and  their  southern  allies  on  the  banks  of  the 
Dee,  June  29,  1308,  Edward  expelled  the  English  entirely 
from  Galloway,  and  brought  that  rude  province  into  sub- 
mission to  his  brother. 

Douglas  again  retook  and  dismantled  his  own  fortress  of 
Douglas,  upon  which  he  had  now  made  three  attacks,  two 
of  which  were  completely  successful.  He  then  proceeded  to 
scour  the  hills  of  Tweedale  and  the  forest  of  Ettricke.  In 
reconnoitring  the  country  on  the  small  river  of  Lyne,  the 
Douglas  approached  a  house,  in  which  a  spy  whom  he  sent 
forward  heard  men  talking  loudly,  one  of  whom  used  the 
"devil's  name"  as  an  oath  or  adjuration.  Conjecturing  they 
must  be  soldiers  who  dared  make  familiar  use  of  so  formid- 
able a  phrase,  Douglas  caused  his  attendants  to  beset  the 
house,  and  made  prisoners  therein  Thomas  Randolph,  the 
king's  nephew,  and  Alexander  Stewart  of  Bonkill,  both  of 
whom,  since  the  battle  of  Methven,  had  adhered  to  the  En- 
glish interest.  They  were  well  treated,  and  sent  to  the  king, 
who  gently  rebuked  Randolph  for  breach  of  allegiance.  "It 
is  you,"  said  the  haughty  young  warrior,  "who  degrade 
your  own  cause  by  trusting  to  ambuscades  instead  of  facing 
the  English  hi  the  field."  "That  may  happen  in  due  time," 
replied  Bruce:  "in  the  meantime,  it  is  fitting  that  you  be 
taught  your  duty  by  restraint."  Thomas  Randolph  was 
sent  accordingly  to  prison,  where  he  did  not  long  remain. 
He  was  reconciled  to  his  uncle,  whom  he  ever  after  served 
with  the  utmost  fidelity:  indeed,  Douglas  only,  among  the 
followers  of  the  Bruce,  was  held  to  equal  him  in  military 
fame. 

Bruce's  successes  now  enabled  him  to  chastise  the  Lord 


118  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

of  Lorn,  by  whom,  after  his  defeat  at  Methven,  he  had  been 
so  severely  persecuted.  He  marched  toward  Argyleshire, 
and  arrived  at  Dalmally.  Here  he  learned  that  John  of 
Lorn  and  his  Highlanders  had  stationed  themselves  in  a 
formidable  pass,  where  the  great  mountain  of  Cruachan-Ben 
sinks  down  upon  the  margin  of  Loch- A  we,  so  that  the  road 
passes  among  precipices  on  the  left  hand  and  the  deep  lake 
on  the  other.  But  Bruce  understood  as  well  as  any  modern 
tacitician  how  such  difficulties  were  to  be  overcome.  While 
he  himself  engaged  the  attention  of  the  mountaineers  by 
threatening  an  assault  in  front,  he  despatched  Douglas,  with 
a  party  of  light  troops,  to  march  round  the  mountain,  and 
turn  the  pass,  thus  attacking  the  defenders  hi  front,  flank, 
and  rear  at  once.  They  were  routed  with  great  slaughter. 
The  lords  of  Lorn,  father  and  son,  escaped  by  sea.  Their 
castle  of  Dunstaffnage  was  taken,  and  their  country  pillaged, 
August,  1308. 

Thus  did  Robert  Bruce,  with  steady  and  patient  resolu- 
tion, win  province  after  province  from  the  English,  encour- 
aging and  rewarding  his  friends,  overawing  and  chastising 
his  enemies,  and  rendering  his  authority  more  respected  day 
by  day.  The  profound  wisdom  and  resolute  purpose  of  Ed- 
ward I.  would  have  been  required  to  sustain,  against  Bruce's 
talents,  the  conquests  he  had  made ;  but  the  weak  and  fickle 
character  of  his  son  was  all  that  England  had  to  oppose  to 

him. 

The  measures  to  which  Edward  resorted  were  imperfect, 
feeble,  hastily  assumed,  and  laid  aside  without  apparent  rea- 
son. At  one  time  he  put  his  faith  in  William  de  Lambyrton, 
the  archbishop  of  Saint  Andrew's,  whom  his  father  had  cast 
into  prison.  This  prelate  being  liberated  and  pensioned  by 
the  second  Edward,  volunteered  his  services  to  promulgate 
the  bull  of  excommunication  against  Robert  Bruce:  but 
if  the  bull  had  made  but  slight  impression  on  the  Scots  dur- 
ing the  king's  adversity,  it  met  with  still  less  regard  when 
the  splendor  of  repeated  success  disposed  his  countrymen  in 
general  to  blot  from  their  remembrance  the  deed  of  violence 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  119 

with  which  so  brilliant  a  career  had  commenced.  The  death 
of  John  Corny n  was  but  like  a  morning  cloud  which  is  for- 
gotten in  the  blaze  of  a  summer  noon. 

The  king  of  France,  who  had  deserted  the  Scots  in  their 
utmost  need,  now  began  to  be  once  more  an  intercessor  in 
their  behalf ;  and  the  English  king  consented  to  offer  a  truce 
to  Bruce  and  his  adherents;  but  the  Scots,  on  their  part,  re- 
quired payment  of  a  sum  of  money  before  they  would  grant 
one.  Edward's  measures  showed  a  predominance  of  weak- 
ness and  uncertainty.  Commissions  to  six  different  gover- 
nors were  granted  and  recalled  before  any  of  those  appointed 
had  time  to  act  upon  them.  General  musters  of  forces  were 
ordered,  which  the  haughty  barons  of  England  obeyed  or 
neglected  at  their  pleasure.  All  showed  the  marks  of  a 
feeble  and  vacillating  government,  unwilling  to  resign  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  yet  incapable  of  adopting  the  active 
and  steady  measures  by  which  alone  it  could  have  been 
preserved. 

All  public  measures  in  Scotland,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
marked  by  the  steadiness  of  conscious  superiority  which  they 
borrowed  from  the  character  of  their  sovereign.  The  estates 
of  the  kingdom  solemnly  declared  the  award  of  Edward 
adjudging  the  crown  of  Scotland  to  John  Baliol  was  an 
in  justice  to  the  grandfather  of  Bruce.  They  recognized  the 
deceased  lord  of  Annandale  as  the  true  heir  of  the  crown, 
owned  his  grandson  as  their  king,  and  denounced  the  doom 
of  treason  against  all  who  should  dispute  his  right  to  the 
crown.  The  clergy  of  the  kingdom  issued  a  spiritual  charge 
to  their  various  flocks,  acknowledging  Bruce  as  their  sover- 
eign, in  spite  of  the  thunders  of  excommunication  which  had 
been  launched  against  him. 

At  length,  in  1310,  Edward,  roused  into  action,  assem- 
bled a  large  army  at  Berwick,  and  entered  Scotland,  but  too 
late  in  the  year  for  any  effective  purpose.  Bruce  was  con- 
tented with  eluding  the  efforts  of  the  invaders  to  bring  on 
a  general  battle,  cutting  off  their  provisions,  harassing  their 
marches,  and  augmenting  the  distress  and  danger  of  an 


120  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

invading  army  in  a  country  at  once  hostile  and  desolate  > 
and  by  this  policy  the  patience  of  Edward  and  the  supplies 
of  his  army  were  altogether  exhausted.  A  second,  a  third, 
a  fourth  expedition  was  attempted  with  equally  indifferent 
success.  What  mischief  the  Scots  might  sustain  by  these 
irruptions  was  fearfully  compensated  by  the  retaliation  of 
King  Robert,  who  ravaged  the  English  frontiers  with  piti- 
less severity.  The  extreme  sufferings  of  Bruce  himself,  of 
his  family  and  his  country,  called  loudly  for  retaliation,  which 
was  thus  rendered  excusable,  if  not  meritorious.  The  Scots 
obtained  money  as  well  as  other  plunder  on  these  occasions ; 
for,  after  abiding  fifteen  days  in  England,  the  northern  prov- 
inces found  it  necessary  to  purchase  their  retreat. 

King  Robert  left  the  borders  to  present  himself  before 
Perth,  which  was  well  fortified,  and  held  out  by  an  English 
garrison.  In  one  place  the  moat  was  so  shallow  that  it 
might  be  waded.  On  that  point  Bruce  made  a  daring 
attack.  Having  previously  thrown  the  garrison  off  their 
guard  by  a  pretended  retreat,  he  appeared  suddenly  before 
the  town  at  the  head  of  a  chosen  storming  party.  He  him- 
self led  the  way,  completely  armed,  bearing  a  scaling-ladder 
in  his  hand,  waded  through  the  moat  where  the  water 
reached  to  his  chin,  and  was  the  second  man  who  mounted 
the  wall.  A  French  knight,  who  was  with  the  Scottish 
army,  at  the  sight  of  this  daring  action,  exclaimed,  "Oh, 
heaven !  what  shall  we  say  of  the  delicacy  of  our  French 
lords,  when  we  see  so  gallant  a  king  hazard  his  person  to 
win  such  a  paltry  hamlet?"  So  saying  he  flung  himself  into 
the  water,  and  was  one  of  the  first  to  surmount  the  wall. 
The  place  was  speedily  taken. 

The  confidential  friends  to  whom  Bruce  intrusted  the 
command  of  separate  detachments  in  various  parts  of  Scot- 
land, among  whom  were  men  of  high  military  talent,  en- 
deavored to  outdo  each  other  in  following  the  example 
of  their  heroic  sovereign.  Douglas  and  Randolph  partic- 
ularly distinguished  themselves  in  this  patriotic  rivalry. 
The  strong  and  large  castle  of  Roxburgh  was  secured  by 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

its  position,  its  fortifications,  and  the  number  of  the  gar- 
rison, from  any  siege  which  the  Scots  could  have  formed. 
But  on  the  eve  of  Shrove  Tuesday  (March  6,  1312-13),  when 
the  garrison  were  full  of  jollity  and  indulging  in  drunken, 
wassail,  Douglas  and  his  followers  approached  the  castle, 
creeping  on  hands  and  feet,  and  having  dark  cloaks  flung 
over  their  armor.  They  seemed  to  the  English  soldiers  a 
strayed  herd  of  some  neighboring  peasant's  cattle,  which 
had  been  suffered  to  escape  daring  the  festivity  of  the  even- 
ing. They  therefore  saw  these  objects  arrive  on  the  verge 
of  the  moat  and  descend  into  it  without  wonder  or  alarm, 
nor  did  they  discover  their  error  till  the  shout  of  Douglas! 
Douglas !  announced  that  the  wall  was  scaled  and  the  castle 
taken. 

As  if  to  match  this  gallant  action,  Thomas  Randolph 
possessed  himself  of  the  yet  stronger  castle  of  Edinburgh. 
This  also  was  by  surprise.  A  soldier  in  Randolph's  army, 
named  William  Frank,  who  had  lived  in  the  castle  in  his 
youth,  had  then  learned  to  make  his  way  down  the  precipice 
on  which  the  fortress  is  built,  by  clambering  over  at  a  place 
where  the  wall  was  very  low.  He  had  used  this  perilous 
passage  for  carrying  on  an  intrigue  with  a  woman  who 
resided  hi  the  city,  and  as  he  had  often  left  the  fortress  and 
returned  to  it  in  safety,  he  offered  himself  as  a  guide  to  scale 
it  at  that  point.  Randolph  placed  himself  and  thirty  chosen 
soldiers  under  the  guidance  of  this  man.  As  they  ascended 
under  the  cover  of  night,  they  heard  the  counter-guards 
making  their  rounds,  and  challenging  the  sentinels  as  usual 
in  a  well-guarded  post.  The  Scots  were  at  this  moment 
screened  by  a  rock  from  the  sentinels  and  from  the  counter- 
watch.  Yet  one  man  of  the  patrol  at  that  awful  moment 
called  out,  "I  see  you,"  and  threw  down  a  stone.  But  this 
was  only  a  trick  for  the  purpose  of  alarming  his  companions, 
not  that  he  had  taken  any  real  alarm,  though  he  had  so 
nearly  discovered  what  was  going  forward.  The  watchmen 
moved  on,  and  the  Scots,  with  as  much  silence  as  possible, 
renewed  their  toilsome  and  dangerous  ascent.  They  reached 
6  <%  VOL.  I. 


122  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

the  foot  of  the  wall  where  it  was  twelve  feet  high,  and  sur- 
mounted it  by  a  ladder  of  ropes.  The  guide  Frank  mounted 
first,  then  came  Sir  Andrew  Gray,  and  next  Randolph  him- 
self. The  English  sentinels  now  took  the  alarm  in  good 
earnest;  but  the  boldness  of  the  action  was  the  cause  of  its 
success;  and  though  the  garrison  resisted  bravely,  yet,  being 
unaware  of  the  very  small  force  opposed  to  them,  the  castle 
was  at  length  taken.  This  was  the  14th  March,  1312-13. 

It  was  not  princes  and  warriors  alone  who  were  roused 
to  action  on  this  glorious  occasion.  The  exploit  of  a  hardy 
peasant,  Binnock  or  Binning  by  name,  is  as  remarkable  as 
the  surprise  of  Roxburgh  or  Edinburgh.  This  brave  man 
lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Linlithgow,  where  the  English 
had  constructed  a  strong  fort.  Accustomed  to  supply  the 
garrison  with  forage,  Binnock  concealed  eight  armed  Scots 
hi  his  wain,  which  was  apparently  loaded  with  hay.  He 
employed  a  strong-bodied  bondman  to  drive  the  wagon, 
and  he  himself  walked  beside  it,  as  if  to  see  his  commodity 
delivered.  When  the  cart  was  in  the  gateway  beneath  the 
portcullis,  Binnock,  with  a  sudden  blow  of  an  axe  which 
he  held  in  his  hand,  severed  the  harness  which  secured  the 
horses  to  the  wain.  Finding  themselves  relieved  from  the 
draught,  the  horses  sprang  forward.  Binnock  shouted  a 
signal-word,  and  at  the  same  time  struck  down  the  porter 
with  his  axe.  The  armed  men  started  from  their  conceal- 
ment among  the  hay.  The  English  attempted  to  drop  the 
portcullis  or  shut  the  gate ;  but  the  loaded  wain  prevented 
alike  the  fall  of  the  one  and  the  closing  of  the  other.  A 
party  of  armed  Scots,  who  lay  in  ambush  waiting  the  event, 
rushed  in  at  the  shout  of  their  companions,  and  the  castle 
was  theirs. 

The  Bruce's  success  was  not  limited  to  the  mainland  of 
Scotland;  he  pursued  the  Macdougal  of  Galloway,  to  whom 
he  owed  the  captivity  and  subsequent  death  of  his  two  broth- 
ers, into  the  Isle  of  Man,  where  he  defeated  him  totally, 
stormed  his  castle  of  Rushin,  and  subjected  his  island  to 
the  Scottish  domination. 


Or  ^GOTLAND  123 


"When  Bruce  returned  to  the  mainland  of  North  Britain 
from  this  expedition,  he  had  the  pleasure  to  find  that  the 
energy  of  his  brother  Edward  had  pursued  the  great  work 
of  expelling  the  English  invaders  with  uninterrupted  suc- 
cess. He  had  taken  the  town  and  castle  of  Rutherglen  and 
of  Dundee;  the  last  of  which  had  during  the  previous  year 
resisted  the  Scottish  arms,  in  consequence,  partly,  of  a  breach 
of  compact,  which  we  shall  presently  notice. 

But  these  good  news  were  checkered  by  others  of  a  more 
doubtful  quality.  After  his  success  at  Rutherglen  and  Dun- 
dee, Sir  Edward  Bruce  laid  siege  to  Stirling,  the  only  consid- 
erable fortress  in  Scotland  which  still  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  English.  The  governor,  Sir  Philip  de  Mow  bray,  de- 
feuded  himself  with  great  valor,  but  at  length,  becoming 
straitened  for  provisions,  entered  into  a  treaty,  by  which 
he  agreed  to  surrender  the  fortress  if  not  relieved  before 
the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  in  the  ensuing  midsum- 
mer. Bruce  was  greatly  displeased  with  the  precipitation 
of  his  brother  Edward  in  entering  into  such  a  capitulation 
without  waiting  his  consent.  It  engaged  him  necessarily 
in  the  same  risk  which  had  so  often  proved  fatal  to  the 
Scots;  namely,  that  of  perilling  the  fate  of  the  kingdom 
upon  a  general  battle,  in  which  the  numbers,  discipline, 
and  superior  appointments  of  the  English  must  insure  them 
an  advantage,  which  experience  had  shown  they  were  far 
from  possessing  over  their  northern  neighbors  when  they 
encountered  in  small  bodies.  The  king  upbraided  his 
brother  with  the  temerity  of  his  conduct;  but  Edward, 
with  the  reckless  courage  which  characterized  him,  de- 
fended his  agreement  on  the  usage  of  chivalry,  and  rather 
seemod  to  triumph  in  having  brought  the  protracted  con- 
flict between  the  kingdoms  to  the  issue  of  a  fair  field. 

If  Robert  Bruce  had  finally  determined  to  avoid  the  con- 
flict, he  had  a  fair  excuse  to  do  so.  In  the  preceding  year 
(1313),  as  we  have  already  hinted,  William  de  Montfichet, 
the  English  governor  of  Dundee,  had  entered  into  terms 
similar  to  the  treaty  of  Stirling,  to  surrender  the  place  un- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

less  relieved  at  a  certain  stipulated  time.  But  he  had  broken 
his  agreement,  and  resumed  his  defence,  under  the  express 
injunction  of  Edward  his  sovereign.  So  that  if  Bruce  had 
refused  to  sanction  his  brother's  agreement  with  Mowbray, 
he  might  have  fairly  pleaded  the  example  of  Edward  his 
antagonist.  But  King  Robert  saw  that  this  mode  of  elud- 
ing the  treaty  could  not  be  acted  upon  without  depressing 
the  spirits  of  his  followers,  and  diminishing  their  confidence, 
while  it  must  have  lost  him  the  services  of  the  hasty  but 
dauntless  Edward,  of  which  his  cooler  courage  knew  how 
to  make  the  most  important  use.  Besides,  his  own  temper, 
though  tamed  by  experience,  was  naturally  hardy  and  bold, 
and  little  disposed  him  to  avoid  the  arbitrament  of  battle 
when  his  character  as  a  soldier  and  a  true  knight  recom- 
mended his  accepting  it.  To  all  this  must  be  added  that 
the  prescient  eye  of  Bruce  saw  and  anticipated  circumstances 
which,  if  made  of  due  avail,  might  deprive  the  English  of 
the  advantage  of  numbers,  discipline,  and  appointments,  in 
all  of  which  they  might  be  expected  to  possess  a  superiority. 
He  prepared,  then,  with  the  calm  prudence  of  an  accom- 
plished and  intelligent  general,  for  the  mortal  and  decisive 
conflict,  the  challenge  to  which  his  brother  Edward  had  ac- 
cepted with  the  wild  enthusiasm  of  a  knight-errant. 

Meantime  Sir  Philip  de  Mowbray,  governor  of  Stirling, 
availed  himself  of  the  truce  which  the  treaty  had  procured 
for  the  garrison  under  his  command,  to  hasten  in  person  to 
London,  and  state  to  Edward  and  his  council  that  almost 
the  last  remnant  of  Edward  I.  's  conquests  in  Scotland  must 
be  irretrievably  lost,  unless  Stirling  was  relieved.  The  king 
and  hiy  barons,  through  the  misconduct  of  the  former,  were 
at  the  time  upon  very  indifferent  terms.  But  this  news  was 
of  a  nature  to  arouse  the  spirit  of  both.  The  king  could  not 
without  dishonor  decline  the  enterprise;  the  barons  could 
not  withhold  their  assistance,  without  being  guilty  of  trea- 
son both  to  their  sovereign  and  to  the  honor  of  their  coun- 
try. The  time  allowed  by  the  treaty,  i  Deluding  several 
months,  was  sufficient  for  collecting  the  whole  gigantic 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  126 

force  of  England,  and  the  disposition  both  of  the  king 
and  his  nobility  was  earnest  in  employing  it  to  the  best 
advantage. 

The  preparations  of  England  for  this  decisive  enterprise 
were  upon  such  a  scale  as  to  stagger  the  belief  of  modern 
historians,  yet  their  extent  is  proved  by  the  records  which 
are  still  extant.  Ninety-three  great  tenants  of  the  crown 
brought  forth  their  entire  feudal  service  of  cavalry,  to  the 
number  of  forty  thousand,  three  thousand  of  whom  were 
completely  sheathed  in  steel,  both  horses  and  riders.  The 
levies  in  the  counties  of  England  and  Wales  extended  to 
twenty-seven  thousand  infantry.  A  great  force  was  drawn 
from  Ireland,  both  under  English  barons,  settlers  in  that 
country,  and  under  twenty-six  Irish  chiefs,  who  were  or- 
dered to  collect  their  vassals  and  join  the  army.  The  whole 
array  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Berwick  on  the  llth  day 
of  June  (1314),  the  period  being  prolonged  to  the  last  limits 
Sir  Philip  Mowbray's  engagement  would  permit,  hi  order  to 
give  time  to  collect  the  vast  quantity  of  provisions,  forage, 
and  everything  else  required  for  the  movement  and  support 
of  a  host,  which  was  indisputably  the  most  numerous  that 
an  English  monarch  ever  led  against  Scotland,  amounting 
in  all  to  upward  of  one  hundred  thousand  men. 

Bruce,  who  was  well  informed  respecting  these  formidable 
preparations,  exhausted  the  resources  of  his  powerful  military 
genius  in  devising  and  preparing  the  means  of  opposing  them. 


126  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER   X 

Preparations  of  Robert  Bruce  for  a  decisive  Engagement — Precau- 
tions adopted  by  him  against  the  Superiority  of  the  English  in 
Cavalry:  against  their  Archery:  against  their  Superiority  of 
Numbers — He  summons  his  Array  together — Description  of  the 
Field  of  Battle,  and  of  the  Scottish  Order  of  Battle— The  English 
Vanguard  comes  in  Sight — Action  between  Clifford  and  the 
Earl  of  Moray — Chivalrous  Conduct  of  Douglas — Bruce  kills 
Sir  Henry  Bohun — Appearance  of  the  English  Army  on  the 
ensuing  Morning — Circumstances  preliminary  to  the  Battle — 
The  English  begin  the  Attack — Their  Archers  are  dispersed  by 
Cavalry  kept  in  Reserve  for  that  Purpose — The  English  fall  into 
disorder — Bruce  attacks  with  the  Reserve — The  Camp  Fol- 
lowers appear  on  the  Field  of  Battle — The  English  fall  into 
irretrievable  Confusion,  and  fly — Great  Slaughter — Death  of 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester — King  E.d  ward  leaves  the  Field — Death 
of  De  Argentine — Flight  of  the  King  to  Dunbar — Prisoners 
and  Spoil — Scottish  Loss — Scots  unable  to  derive  a  Lesson  in 
Strategy  from  the  Battle  of  Bannockburn;  but  supported  by 
the  Remembrance  of  that  great  Success  during  the  succeeding 
Extremities  of  their  History 

THE  crisis  of  this  long  and  inveterate  war  seemed  ap- 
proaching. From  the  spring  of  1306  to  that  of  1314, 
the  fortunes  of  Bruce  seem  to  have  been  so  much  on 
the  ascendant  that  none  of  the  slight  reverses  with  which  his 
career  was  checkered  could  be  considered  as  seriously  inter- 
rupting it.  He  was  now  acknowledged  as  king  through  the 
greater  part  of  Scotland,  although  far  from  possessing  the 
decisive  authority  attached  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  a  set- 
tled government.  Zeal,  goodwill,  love  for  his  person,  and 
reverence  for  his  talents,  made  up  to  him  among  his  coun- 
trymen what  was  wanting  in  established  and  acknowledged 
right;  so  that  it  was  with  the  certainty  of  receiving  the  gen- 
eral national  support  that  he  prepared  for  the  approaching 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  127 

conflict.  Bruce  had  chiefly  to  provide  against  three  disad- 
vantages, being  the  same  which  oppressed  Wallace  at  the 
battle  of  Falkirk,  and  of  which  the  first  two  at  least  contin- 
ued to  be  severely  felt  by  the  Scottish  in  every  general  action 
with  the  English,  while  they  remained  separate  nations. 

The  first  was  the  Scottish  king's  great  deficiency  in  cav- 
alry, which,  more  especially  the  men-at-arms,  who  were 
arrayed  in  complete  steel,  was  accounted  by  far  the  most 
formidable  part,  or  rather  the  only  efficient  part  of  a  feudal 
army.  On  this  point  Bruce  held  an  opinion  more  proper 
to  our  age  than  to  his.  He  had,  perhaps,  seen  the  battle  of 
Falkirk,  where  the  resistance  of  the  Scottish  masses  of  in- 
fantry had  been  so  formidable  as  wellnigh  to  foil  the  English 
cavalry,  and  he  knew  the  particulars  of  that  of  Courtray, 
where  the  French  men-at-arms  were  defeated  by  the  Flem- 
ish pikemen.  His  own  experience  of  the  battle  of  Loudoun 
Hill  went  to  support  the  opinion,  though  accounted  singular 
at  the  time,  that  a  body  of  steady  infantry,  armed  with 
spears  and  other  long  weapons,  and  judiciously  posted, 
would,  if  they  could  be  brought  to  stand  firm  and  keep 
their  ranks,  certainly  beat  off  a  superior  body  of  horse — a 
maxim  uncontroverted  in  modern  warfare. 

Bruce's  second  difficulty  lay  in  the  inferiority  of  his  arch- 
ers, whose  formidable  shafts  constituted  the  artillery  of  the 
day.  The  bow  was  never  a  favorite  weapon  with  the  Scottish, 
and  their  archery  were  generally  drawn  from  the  Highlands, 
undisciplined,  and  rudely  armed  with  a  short  bow,  very 
loosely  strung:  this,  being  drawn  to  the  breast  in  using  it, 
discharged  a  clumsy  arrow  with  a  heavy  head  of  forked 
iron,  which  was  shot  feebly,  and  with  little  effect.  These 
ill-trained  and  ill-armed  archers  were  all  whom  the  Scottish 
had  to  oppose  to  the  celebrated  yeomen  of  England,  who 
were  from  childhood  trained  to  the  exercise  of  the  bow. 
This  warlike  implement,  of  a  size  suited  to  his  age,  was  put 
into  every  child's  hand  when  five  years  old,  and  afterward 
gradually  increased  in  size  with  the  increasing  strength  of 
him  who  was  to  use  it,  until  the  full-grown  youth  could 


128  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

manage  a  bow  of  six  feet  long,  and  by  drawing  the  arrow 
to  his  ear,  gain  purchase  enough  to  discharge  shafts  of  a 
cloth-yard  long.  For  the  great  inequality  of  numbers  and 
skill  between  the  Scottish  Highlanders  and  English  bowmen, 
Bruce  hoped  also  to  find  a  remedy  by  his  proposed  array  of 
battle. 

The  third  disadvantage  at  which  this  decisive  contest 
must  be  fought  on  the  part  of  Scotland,  was  the  disparity  of 
numbers,  which  was  very  great.  The  commands  of  Bruce, 
through  such  parts  of  Scotland  as  confessed  his  sovereignty, 
drew  together  indeed  a  considerable  force,  the  more  easily 
collected,  as  Stirling  was  a  central  situation.  But  the  more 
distant  districts  had,  during  the  tumult  of  civil  war,  become 
almost  independent,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  the  Bruce's 
mandates  had  much  effect  on  the  remoter  northern  prov- 
inces. On  the  other  hand,  in  the  country  to  the  south,  and 
especially  to  the  southeast  of  the  borders,  many  great  lords 
and  barons  continued  to  profess  the  English  interest.  Of 
these,  the  great  Earl  of  March  was  most  distinguished.  We 
may  conclude  from  these  reasons,  that  the  Scottish  historians 
are  right  in  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  Robert's  utmost 
exertions  on  this  trying  occasion  could  not  collect  together 
more  than  about  thirty  thousand  fighting  men,  though,  as 
was  usual  with  a  Scottish  army,  there  were  followers  of  the 
camp  amounting  to  ten  thousand  more,  to  whom,  although 
usually  a  useless  encumbrance,  or  rather  a  nuisance  to  a  well- 
ordered  army,  fortune  assigned  on  this  occasion  a  singular 
influence  on  the  fortune  of  the  day.  Bruce,  thus  inferior 
in  numbers,  endeavored,  like  an  able  general,  to  compensate 
the  disadvantage  by  so  choosing  his  ground  as  to  compel  the 
«nemy  to  narrow  their  front  of  attack,  and  prevent  them 
from  availing  themselves  of  their  numerous  forces,  by  ex- 
tending them  in  order  to  turn  his  flanks. 

"With  such  resolutions,  Robert  Bruce  summoned  the  array 
of  his  kingdom  to  rendezvous  in  the  Tor  Wood,  about  four 
miles  from  Stirling,  and  by  degrees  prepared  the  field  of  bat- 
tle which  he  had  selected  for  the  contest.  It  was  a  apace  of 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  129 

ground  then  called  the  New  Park,  perhaps  reserved  for  the 
chase,  since  Stirling  was  frequently  a  royal  residence.  This 
ground  was  partly  open,  partly  encumbered  with  trees,  in 
groups  or  separate.  It  was  occupied  by  the  Scottish  line  of 
battle,  extending  from  south  to  north,  and  fronting  to  the 
east.  In  this  position  Bruce's  left  flank  and  rear  might 
have  been  exposed  to  a  sally  from  the  Castle  of  Stirling; 
but  Mowbray  the  governor's  faith  was  beyond  suspicion, 
and  the  king  was  not  in  apprehension  that  he  would  violate 
the  tenor  of  the  treaty,  by  which  he  was  bound  to  remain  in 
passive  expectation  of  his  fate.  The  direct  approach  to  the 
Scottish  front  was  protected  in  a  great  measure  by  a  morass 
called  the  Newmiln  Bog.  A  brook,  called  Bannockburn, 
running  to  the  eastward  between  rocky  and  precipitous 
banks,  effectually  covered  the  Scottish  right  wing,  which 
rested  upon  it,  and  was  totally  inaccessible.  Their  left  flank 
was  apparently  bare,  but  was,  in  fact,  formidably  protected 
in  front  by  a  peculiar  kind  of  field-works.  As  the  ground  in 
that  part  of  the  field  was  adapted  for  the  manoeuvres  of  cav- 
alry, Bruce  caused  many  rows  of  pits,  three  feet  deep,  to  be 
dug  in  it,  so  close  together  as  to  suggest  the  appearance  of 
a  honeycomb,  with  its  ranges  of  cells.  In  these  pits  sharp 
stakes  were  strongly  pitched,  and  the  apertures  covered  with 
sod  so  carefully  as  that  the  condition  of  the  ground  might 
escape  observation.  Calthrops,  or  spikes  contrived  to  lame 
the  horses,  were  also  scattered  in  different  directions. 

Having  led  his  troops  into  the  field  of  combat,  on  the 
tidings  of  the  English  approach,  the  23d  of  June,  1314,  the 
king  of  Scotland  commanded  his  soldiers  to  arm  themselves, 
and  making  proclamation  that  those  who  were  not  prepared 
to  conquer  or  die  with  their  sovereign  were  at  liberty  to  de- 
part, he  was  answered  by  a  cheerful  and  general  expression 
of  their  determination  to  take  their  fate  with  him.  The 
king  proceeded  to  draw  up  the  army  in  the  following  order. 
Three  oblong  columns  or  masses  of  infantry,  armed  with 
lances,  arranged  on  the  same  front,  with  intervals  between 
them,  formed  his  first  line.  Of  these  Edward  Bruce  had 


130  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

the  guidance  of  the  right  wing,  James  Douglas  and  "Walter, 
the  steward  of  Scotland,  of  the  left,  and  Thomas  Randolph 
of  the  central  division.  These  three  commanders  had  their 
orders  to  permit  no  English  troops  to  pass  their  front,  in 
order  to  gain  Stirling.  The  second  line,  forming  one  column 
or  mass,  consisted  of  the  men  of  the  isles,  under  Bruce's 
faithful  friend  and  ally,  the  insular  Prince  Angus,  his  own 
men  of  Carrick,  and  those  of  Argyle  and  Cantire.  With 
these  the  king  posted  himself,  in  order  to  carry  support  and 
assistance  wherever  it  might  be  required.  "With  himself  also 
he  kept  in  the  rear  a  select  body  of  horse,  the  greater  part  of 
whom  he  designed  for  executing  a  particular  service.  The 
followers  of  the  camp  were  dismissed  with  the  baggage,  to 
station  themselves  behind  an  eminence  to  the  rear  of  the 
Scottish  army,  still  called  the  Gillies'  (that  is,  the  servants') 
Hill. 

These  arrangements  were  hardly  completed  by  the  Scot- 
tish monarch,  when  it  was  announced  that  the  tremendous 
army  of  Edward  was  approaching,  having  marched  from 
Falkirk  early  that  morning.  On  approaching  Stirling,  the 
English  king  detached  Sir  Robert  Clifford  with  eight  hun- 
dred horse,  directing  him  to  avoid  the  front  of  the  Scottish 
army,  and,  fetching  a  circuit  round  them,  turn  their  left 
flank,  and  throw  himself  into  Stirling.  The  English  knight 
made  a  circuit  eastward,  where  some  low  ground  concealed 
his  manoeuvres,  when  the  eagle  eye  of  Bruce  detected  a  line 
of  dust,  with  glancing  of  spears  and  flashing  of  armor,  tak- 
ing northward,  in  the  direction  of  Stirling.  He  pointed  this 
out  to  Randolph.  "They  have  passed  where  you  kept 
ward,"  said  he.  "Ah,  Randolph,  there  is  a  rose  fallen 
from  your  chapletl" 

The  Earl  of  Moray  was  wounded  by  the  reproach,  and 
with  such  force  as  he  had  around  him,  which  amounted  to  a 
few  scores  of  spearmen  on  foot,  he  advanced  against  Clifford 
to  redeem  his  error.  The  English  knight,  interrupted  in  his 
purpose  of  gaining  Stirling,  wheeled  his  large  body  of  cavalry 
upon  Randolph,  and  charged  him  at  full  speed.  The  Earl  of 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  131 

Moray  threw  his  men  into  a  circle  to  receive  the  charge,  the 
front  kneeling  on  the  ground,  the  second  stooping,  the  third 
standing  upright,  and  all  of  them  presenting  their  spears  like 
a  wall  against  the  headlong  force  of  the  advancing  cavaliers. 
The  combat  appeared  so  unequal  to  those  who  viewed  it 
from  a  distance,  that  they  considered  Randolph  as  lost,  and 
Douglas  requested  the  king's  assistance  to  fetch  him  off. 
"It  may  not  be,"  said  the  Bruce;  "Randolph  must  pay  the 
penalty  of  his  indiscretion.  I  will  not  disorder  my  line  of 
battle  for  him." — "Ah,  noble  king,"  said  Douglas,  "my 
heart  cannot  suffer  me  to  see  Randolph  perish  for  lack  of 
aid";  and  with  a  permission  half  extorted  from  the  king, 
half  assumed  by  himself,  Douglas  marched  to  his  defence ; 
but  upon  approaching  the  scene  of  conflict,  the  little  body  of 
Randolph  was  seen  emerging  like  a  rock  in  the  waves,  from 
which  the  English  cavalry  were  retreating  on  every  side 
with  broken  ranks,  like  a  repelled  tide.  "Hold  and  halt!" 
said  the  Douglas  to  his  followers;  "we  are  come  too  late  to 
aid  them;  let  us  not  lessen  the  victory  they  have  won,  by 
affecting  to  claim  a  share  in  it."  When  it  is  remembered 
that  Douglas  and  Randolph  were  rivals  for  fame,  this  is  one 
of  the  bright  touches  which  illuminate  and  adorn  the  history 
of  those  ages  of  which  blood  and  devastation  are  the  pre- 
dominant character. 

Another  preliminary  event  took  place  the  same  evening. 
Bruce  himself,  mounted  upon  a  small  horse  or  pony,  was 
attentively  marshalling  the  ranks  of  his  vanguard.  He  car- 
ried a  battle-axe  in  his  hand,  and  was  distinguished  to  friend 
and  enemy  by  a  golden  coronet  which  he  wore  on  his  helmet. 
A  part  of  the  English  vanguard  made  its  appearance  at  this 
time;  and  a  knight  among  them,  Sir  Henry  de  Bohun,  con- 
ceiving he  saw  an  opportunity  of  gaining  himself  much 
honor,  and  ending  the  Scottish  war  at  a  single  blow,  couched 
his  lance,  spurred  his  powerful  war-horse,  and  rode  against 
the  king  at  full  career,  with  the  expectation  of  bearing  him  to 
the  earth  by  the  superior  strength  of  his  charger  and  length 
of  his  weapon.  The  king,  aware  of  his  purpose,  stood  as  if 


132  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

expecting  the  shock;  but  the  instant  before  it  took  place, 
he  suddenly  moved  his  little  palfrey  to  the  left,  avoided  the 
unequal  encounter,  and  striking  the  English  knight  with  his 
battle-axe  as  he  passed  him  in  his  career,  he  dashed  helmet 
and  head  to  pieces,  and  laid  Sir  Henry  Bohun  at  his  feet  a 
dead  man.  The  animation  which  this  event  afforded  to  the 
Scots  was  equalled  by  the  dismay  which  it  struck  into  their 
enemies.  The  English  vanguard  retired  from  the  field  with 
ominous  feelings  for  the  event  of  the  battle,  which  Edward 
had  resolved  to  put  off  till  the  morrow,  in  consideration, 
perhaps,  of  the  discouraging  effects  of  Bohun's  death  and 
Clifford's  defeat.  The  Scottish  nobles  remonstrated  with 
Robert  on  the  hazard  in  which  he  placed  his  person.  The 
king  looked  at  his  weapon,  and  only  replied,  "I  have  broke 
my  good  battle-axe."  He  would  not  justify  what  he  was 
conscious  was  an  imprudence,  but  knew,  doubtless,  like 
other  great  men,  that  there  are  moments  in  which  the  rules 
of  ordinary  prudence  must  be  transgressed  by  a  general,  in 
order  to  give  an  impulse  of  enthusiasm  to  his  followers. 

On  the  morning  of  Saint  Barnaby,  called  the  Bright, 
being  the  24th  of  June,  1314,  Edward  advanced  in  full 
form  to  the  attack  of  the  Scots,  whom  he  found  in  their 
position  of  the  preceding  evening.  The  vanguard  of  the 
English,  consisting  of  the  archers  and  billmen,  or  lancers, 
comprehending  almost  all  the  infantry  of  the  army,  advanced 
under  the  command  of  the  Earls  of  Gloucester  and  Hereford, 
who  also  had  a  fine  body  of  men-at-arms  to  support  their 
column.  All  the  remainder  of  the  English  troops,  consisting 
of  nine  battles  or  separate  divisions,  were  so  straitened  by 
the  narrowness  of  the  ground,  that,  to  the  eye  of  the  Scots, 
they  seemed  to  form  one  very  large  body,  gleaming  with 
flashes  of  armor,  and  dark  with  the  number  of  banners 
which  floated  over  them.  Edward  himself  commanded  this 
tremendous  array,  and  in  order  to  guard  his  person  was  at- 
tended by  four  hundred  chosen  men-at-arms.  Immediately 
around  the  king  waited  Sir  Aymer  de  Valence,  that  Earl  of 
Pembroke  who  defeated  Bruce  at  Methven  Wood,  but  was 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  133 

now  to  see  a  very  different  day,  Sir  Giles  de  Argentine,  a 
.  knight  of  Saint  John  of  Jerusalem,  who  was  accounted,  for 
his  deeds  in  Palestine  and  elsewhere,  one  of  the  best  knights 
that  lived,  and  Sir  Ingram  Umfraville,  an  Aglicized  Scot- 
tishman,  also  famed  for  his  skill  in  arms. 

As  the  Scottish  saw  the  immense  display  of  their  enemies 
rolling  toward  them  like  a  surging  ocean,  they  were  called 
on  to  join  in  an  appeal  to  Heaven  against  the  strength  of 
human  foes.  Maurice,  the  abbot  of  Inchaffray,  bareheaded 
and  barefooted,  walked  along  the  Scottish  line,  and  con- 
ferred his  benediction  on  the  soldiers,  who  knelt  to  receive 
it,  and  to  worship  the  power  in  whose  name  it  was  bestowed. 

During  this  time  the  king  of  England  was  questioning 
Umfraville  about  the  purpose  of  his  opponents.  "Will  they, " 
said  Edward,  "abide  battle?"— "They  assuredly  will,"  re- 
plied Umfraville;  "and  to  engage  them  with  advantage, 
your  highness  were  best  order  a  seeming  retreat,  and  draw 
them  out  of  their  strong  ground."  Edward  rejected  this 
counsel,  and  observing  the  Scottish  soldiers  kneel  down, 
joyfully  exclaimed,  "They  crave  mercy." — "It  is  from 
Heaven,  not  from  your  highness,"  answered  Umfraville: 
"on  that  field  they  will  win  or  die."  The  king  then  com- 
manded the  charge  to  be  sounded  and  the  attack  to  take 
place. 

The  Earls  of  Gloucester  and  Hereford  charged  the  Scots 
left  wing,  under  Edward  Bruce,  with  their  men-at-arms; 
but  some  rivalry  between  these  two  great  lords  induced 
them  to  hurry  to  the  charge  with  more  of  emulation  than 
of  discretion,  and  arriving  at  the  shock  disordered  and  out 
of  breath,  they  were  unable  to  force  the  deep  ranks  of  the 
spearmen.  Many  horses  were  thrown  down,  and  their  mas- 
ters left  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy.  The  other  three  di- 
visions of  the  Scottish  army  attacked  the  mass  of  the  En- 
glish infantry,  who  resisted  courageously.  The  English 
archers,  as  at  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  now  began  to  show 
their  formidable  skill,  at  the  expense  of  the  Scottish  spear- 
men ;  but  for  this  Bruce  was  prepared.  He  commanded  Sir 


134  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

Robert  Keith,  the  marshal  of  Scotland,  with  those  four  hun- 
dred men-at-arms  whom  he  had  kept  in  reserve  for  the  pur- 
pose, to  make  a  circuit  and  charge  the  English  bowmen  in 
the  flank.  This  was  done  with  a  celerity  and  precision  which 
dispersed  the  whole  archery,  who  having  neither  stakes  nor 
other  barrier  to  keep  off  the  horse,  nor  long  weapons  to  repel 
them,  were  cut  down  at  pleasure,  and  almost  without  re- 
sistance. 

The  battle  continued  to  rage,  but  with  disadvantage  to 
the  English.  The  Scottish  archers  had  now  an  opportunity 
of  galling  their  infantry  without  opposition;  and  it  would 
appear  that  King  Edward  could  find  no  means  of  bringing 
any  part  of  his  numerous  centre  or  rearguard  to  the  support 
of  those  in  front,  who  were  engaged  at  disadvantage.  The 
cause  seems  to  have  been  that,  his  army  consisting  in  a  great 
measure  of  horse,  a  space  of  ground  was  wanted  for  the 
squadrons  to  act  in  divisions  and  with  due  order;  and  though 
there  are  cases  in  which  masses  of  infantry  may  possess  a 
kind  of  order,  even  when  in  a  manner  heaped  together,  this 
can  never  be  the  case  with  cavalry,  the  efficacy  of  whose 
movements  must  always  depend  on  each  horse  having  room 
for  free  exertion. 

Bruce,  seeing  the  confusion  thicken,  now  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  reserve,  and  addressing  Angus  of  the  Isles 
in  the  words,  "My  hope  is  constant  in  thee,"  rushed  into  the 
engagement,  followed  by  all  the  troops  he  had  hitherto  kept 
in  reserve.  The  effect  of  such  an  effort,  reserved  for  a  favor- 
able moment,  failed  not  to  be  decisive.  Those  of  the  English 
who  had  been  staggered  were  now  constrained  to  retreat; 
those  who  were  already  in  retreat  took  to  actual  flight.  At 
this  critical  moment,  the  camp-followers  of  the  Scottish 
army,  seized  with  curiosity  to  see  how  the  day  went,  or 
perhaps  desirous  to  have  a  share  of  the  plunder,  suddenly 
showed  themselves  on  the  ridge  of  the  Gillies'  Hill,  in  the 
rear  of  the  Scottish  line  of  battle;  and  as  they  displayed 
cloths  and  horse-coverings  upon  poles  for  ensigns,  they  bore 
in  the  eyes  of  the  English  the  terrors  of  an  army  with  ban- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  135 

ners.  The  belief  that  they  beheld  the  rise  of  an  ambuscade, 
or  the  arrival  of  a  new  army  of  Scots,  gave  the  last  impulse 
of  terror;  and  all  fled  now,  even  those  who  had  before  re- 
sisted. The  slaughter  was  immense;  the  deep  ravine  of 
Bannockburn,  to  the  south  of  the  field  of  battle,  lying  in 
the  direction  taken  by  most  of  the  fugitives,  was  almost 
choked  and  bridged  over  with  the  slain,  the  difficulty  of  the 
ground  retarding  the  fugitive  horsemen  till  the  lancers  were 
upon  them.  Others,  and  in  great  numbers,  rushed  into  the 
river  Forth,  in  the  blindness  of  terror,  and  perished  there. 
No  less  than  twenty-seven  barons  fell  in  the  field :  the  Earl 
of  Gloucester  was  at  the  head  of  the  fatal  list.  Young, 
brave,  and  high-born,  when  he  saw  the  day  was  lost,  he 
rode  headlong  on  the  Scottish  spears,  and  was  slain.  Sir 
Robert  Clifford,  renowned  in  the  Scottish  wars,  was  also 
killed.  Two  hundred  knights  and  seven  hundred  esquires 
of  high  birth  and  blood  graced  the  list  of  slaughter  with  the 
noblest  names  of  England ;  and  thirty  thousand  of  the  com- 
mon file  filled  up  the  fatal  roll. 

Edward,  among  whose  weaknesses  we  cannot  number 
cowardice,  was  reluctantly  forced  from  the  bloody  field  by 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke.  The  noble  Sir  Giles  de  Argentine 
considered  it  as  his  duty  to  attend  the  king  until  he  saw  him 
in  personal  safety,  then  observing  that  "it  was  not  his  own 
wont  to  fly,"  turned  back,  rushed  again  into  the  battle,  cried 
his  war-cry,  galloped  boldly  against  the  victorious  Scots,  and 
was  slain,  according  to  his  wish,  with  his  face  to  the  enemy. 
Edward  must  have  been  bewildered  in  the  confusion  of  the 
field,  for  instead  of  directing  his  course  southerly  to  Linlith- 
gow,  from  which  he  came,  he  rode  northward  to  Stirling, 
and  demanded  admittance.  Philip  de  Mowbray,  the  gov- 
ernor, remonstrated  against  this  rash  step,  reminding  the 
unfortunate  prince  that  he  was  obliged  by  his  treaty  to 
surrender  the  castle  next  day,  as  not  having  been  relieved 
according  to  the  conditions. 

Edward  was  therefore  obliged  to  take  the  southern  road, 
and  he  must  have  made  a  considerable  circuit  to  avoid  the 


136  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Scottish  army.  He  was,  however,  discovered  on  his  retreat, 
and  pursued  by  Douglas  with  sixty  horse,  who  were  all  ohat 
could  be  mustered  for  the  service.  A  circumstance  happened 
in  the  chase  which  illustrates  what  we  have  formerly  said  of 
the  light  and  easy  manner  in  which  a  Scottish  baron's  alle- 
giance at  this  period  hung  upon  him.  In  crossing  the  Tor 
Wood,  Douglas  met  with  Sir  Laurence  Abernethy,  who  with 
a  small  body  of  horsemen  was  hastening  to  join  King  Ed- 
ward and  his  army.  But  learning  from  Douglas  that  the 
English  army  was  destroyed  and  dispersed,  and  the  king  a 
fugitive,  Sir  Laurence  Abernethy  was  easily  persuaded  to 
unite  his  forces  with  those  of  Douglas,  and  ride  in  pursuit 
of  the  prince  to  aid  and  defend  whom  he  had  that  morning 
buckled  on  his  sword  and  mounted  his  horse.  The  king,  by 
a  rapid  and  continued  flight  through  a  country  in  which  bis 
misfortunes  must  have  changed  many  friends  into  enemies, 
at  length  gained  the  castle  of  Dunbar,  where  he  was  hos- 
pitably received  by  the  Earl  of  March.  From  Dunbar  Ed- 
ward escaped  almost  alone  to  Berwick  in  a  fishing  skiff, 
having  left  behind  him  the  finest  army  a  king  of  England 
ever  commanded. 

The  quantity  of  spoil  gained  by  the  victors  at  the  battle 
of  Bannockburn  was  inestimable,  and  the  ransoms  paid  by 
the  prisoners  largely  added  to  the  mass  of  treasure.  Five 
near  relations  to  the  Bruce,  namely,  his  wife,  her  sister 
Christian,  his  daughter  Marjory,  the  bishop  of  Glasgow 
(Wishart),  and  the  young  Earl  of  Mar,  the  king's  nephew, 
were  exchanged  against  the  Earl  of  Hereford,  high  constable 
of  England. 

The  Scottish  loss  was  very  small.  Sir  "William  Vipont 
and  Sir  Walter  Ross  were  the  only  persons  of  consideration 
slain.  Sir  Edward  Bruce  is  said  to  have  been  so  much  at- 
tached to  the  last  of  these  knights  as  to  have  expressed  his 
wish  that  the  battle  had  remained  unfought  so  Ross  had 
not  died. 

As  a  lesson  of  tactics,  the  Scots  might  derive  from  this 
great  action  principles  on  which  they  might  have  gained 


HISTORY  OF  SCOTLAND  137 

many  other  victories.  Robert  Bruce  had  shown  them  that 
he  could  rid  the  phalanx  of  Scottish  spearmen  of  the  fatal 
annoyance  of  the  English  archery,  and  that,  secured  against 
their  close  and  continued  volleys  of  arrows,  the  infantry 
could  experience  little  danger  from  the  furious  charge  of  the 
men-at-arms.  Yet  in  no  battle,  save  that  of  Bannockburn, 
do  we  observe  the  very  obvious  movement  of  dispersing  the 
bowmen  by  means  of  light  horse  ever  thought  of,  or  at  least 
adopted ;  although  it  is  obvious  that  the  same  charge  which 
drove  the  English  archers  from  the  field  might  have  enabled 
the  bowmen  of  Scotland  to  come  into  the  action,  with  un- 
equal powers,  perhaps,  but  with  an  effect  which  might  have 
been  formidable  when  unopposed. 

But  if,  in  a  strategical  point  of  view,  the  field  of  Ban- 
nockburn was  lost  on  the  Scottish  nation,  they  derived  from 
it  a  lesson  of  pertinacity  in  national  defence  which  they  never 
afterward  forgot  during  the  course  of  their  remaining  a  sepa- 
rate people.  They  had  seen,  before  the  battle  of  Bannock- 
burn,  the  light  of  national  freedom  reduced  to  the  last  spark, 
their  patriots  slain,  their  laws  reversed,  their  monuments 
plundered  and  destroyed,  their  prince  an  excommunicated 
outlaw,  who  could  not  find  in  the  wilderness  of  his  country 
a  cave  dark  and  inaccessible  enough  to  shelter  his  head ;  all 
this  they  had  seen  in  1306 :  and  so  completely  had  ten  years 
of  resistance  changed  the  scene  that  the  same  prince  rode 
over  a  field  of  victory  a  triumphant  sovereign,  the  first 
nobles  of  the  English  enemies  lying  dead  at  his  feet  or  sur- 
rendering themselves  for  ransom.  It  seems  likely  that  it 
was  from  the  recollection  of  that  extraordinary  change  of 
fortune  that  the  Scots  drew  the  great  lesson  never  to  despair 
of  the  freedom  of  their  country,  but  to  continue  resistance  to 
invaders,  even  when  it  seemed  most  desperate. 

Dark  times  succeeded  these  brilliant  days,  and  none  more 
gloomy  than  those  during  the  reign  of  the  conqueror's  son. 
But  though  there  might  be  fear  or  doubt,  there  could  not  be 
a  thought  of  despair  when  Scotsmen  saw  hanging  like  hal- 
lowed relics  above  their  domestic  hearths  the  swords  with 


138  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

which  their  fathers  served  the  Bruce  at  the  field  of  Bannock- 
burn.  *  And  the  Scots  may  have  the  pride  to  recollect,  and 
other  nations  to  learn  from  their  history,  that  to  a  brave  peo- 
ple one  victory  will  do  more  to  sustain  the  honorable  spirit  of 
independence  than  twenty  defeats  can  effect  to  suppress  it. 


1  Such  weapons  were  actually  in  existence.     The  proprietors  of  the 
small   estate  of  Deuchar,  in  the  county  of  Fife,  had  a  broadsword, 
transmitted  from  father  to  son,  bearing  this  proud  inscription: — 
"At  Bannokburn  I  served  the  Bruce, 

Of  whilk  the  Inglis  had  na  russ." 
See  Dr.  Jamieson's  Scottish  Dictionary,  vol.  ii.,  voce  Russ. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  139 


CHAPTER  XI 

• 

Consequences  of  the  Victory  of  Bannockburn — Depression  of  the 
Military  Spirit  of  England — Ravages  on  the  Border — Settlement 
of  the  Scottish  Crown — Marriage  of  the  Princess  Marjory  with 
the  Steward  of  Scotland — Edward  Bruce  invades  Ireland:  his 
Success:  is  defeated  and  slain  at  the  Battle  of  Dundalk — Battle 
of  Linthaughlee;  Douglas  defeats  Sir  Edmund  Caillou,  and  Sir 
Robert  Neville — Invasion  of  Fife,  and  Gallantry  of  the  Bishop 
of  Dunkeld — Embassy  from  the  Pope:  the  Cardinals  who  bear  it 
are  stripped  upon  the  'Borders:  Bruce  refuses  to  receive  their 
Letters — Father  Newton's  Mission  to  Bruce,  which  totally  fails 
— Berwick  surprised  by  the  Scots,  and  besieged  by  the  English: 
relieved  by  Robert  Bruce — Battle  of  Mitton — Truce  of  Two 
Years — Succession  of  the  Crown  further  regulated — Assize  of 
Arms — Disputes  with  the  Pope — Letter  of  the  Scottish  Barons 
to  John  XXII. — Conspiracy  of  William  de  Soulis — Black  Par- 
liament— Execution  of  David  de  Brechin 

THE  victory  of  Bannockburn  was  followed  by  a  series 
of  consequences  which  serve  to  show  how  entirely 
the  energies  of  a  kingdom,  its  wisdom,  its  skill,  its 
bravery,  and  its  success,  depend  upon  the  manner  in  which 
its  government  is  administered  and  its  resources  directed. 
The  indolence  with  which  Edward  II.  had  managed  the 
affairs  of  England,  his  neglect  of  the  Scottish  war,  while 
supported  almost  in  spite  of  every  species  of  superiority  by 
the  talents  of  Bruce  and  those  whom  his  genius  had  sum- 
moned to  arms — this  original  error,  followed  by  the  great 
and  decisive  failure  which  the  English  king  had  experienced 
in  his  final  attempt  to  crush  the  enemy  after  he  had  become 
too  strong  for  his  efforts,  produced  an  effect  on  the  public 
mind  through  England,  which,  did  we  not  find  it  recorded 
by  her  own  historians,  we  could  hardly  reconcile  to  the  tri- 
umphs of  the  same  people  in  the  past  reign  of  Edward  I.,  and 


140  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

the  subsequent  one  of  Edward  III.  "A  hundred  English," 
Bays  Walsingham,  "would  not  be  ashamed  to  fly  from  three 
or  four  private  Scottish  soldiers,  so  much  had  they  lost  their 
national  courage." 

Thrice  within  twelve  months  Scottish  armies,  commanded 
by  James  Douglas  and  Edward  Bruce,  broke  into  the  En- 
glish frontiers,  and  ravaged  them  with  fire  and  sword,,  exe- 
cuting great  cruelties  on  the  unfortunate  inhabitants,  forcing 
the  few  who  could  so  escape  to  take  shelter  under  the  fortifi- 
cations of  Berwick,  Newcastle,  or  Carlisle,  all  strong  towns, 
carefully  fortified,  and  numerously  garrisoned. 

Meantime  commissioners  on  both  sides  had  met  with  a 
proposal  for  peace;  but  the  Scots,  on  the  one  hand,  were 
elated  with  success,  and,  on  the  other,  the  national  spirit 
of  the  English  would  not  agree  to  the  conditions  which  they 
proposed,  and  the  negotiation  was  therefore  broken  off.  The 
war  continued  with  mutual  animosity,  though  much  more 
effectually  carried  on  by  the  Scots,  who  wasted  the  northern 
frontiers  with  unceasing  ravages,  which  were  hardly  encoun- 
tered or  repaid  either  by  resistance  or  retaliation.  In  the 
meantime  a  famine  spread  its  ravages  through  both  coun- 
tries, and  added  its  terrors  to  those  of  the  sword,  which,  by 
scaring  away  the  peasants  and  destroying  the  agricultural 
produce,  had  done  much  to  create  this  new  scourge. 

In  1315  the  estates  or  parliament  of  Scotland,  bethinking 
themselves  of  the  evils  sustained  by  the  nation  at  the  death  of 
Alexander  III.,  through  the  uncertainty  of  the  succession  to 
the  crown,  entered  into  an  act  of  settlement,  by  which  Ed- 
ward, the  king's  brother,  we  may  suppose  upon  the  ancient 
principles  of  the  Scottish  nation,  was  called  to  the  throne  in 
case  of  Robert's  decease  without  heirs  male;  and  Edward  or 
his  issue  failing,  the  succession  was  assured  to  King  Robert's 
only  child,  Marjory,  and  her  descendants.  The  princess 
was  immediately  married  to  Walter,  the  high-steward  of 
Scotland,  and  the  heir  of  that  auspicious  marriage  having 
succeeded  in  a  subsequent  generation  to  the  throne  of  Scot- 
land, their  descendants  now  sit  upon  that  of  Britain. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  141 

It  is  probable  that  Robert's  acquaintance  with  his  brother 
Edward's  martial  character  and  experience  in  war  inclined 
him  to  give  his  assent  that  he  and  his  issue  should  occupy 
the  throne,  rather  than  expose  the  unsettled  state  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  a  female,  by  devolving  it  upon  his  own  daughter. 
But  there  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  the  monarch  was  sus- 
picious that  the  fiery  valor  and  irregular  ambition  of  Edward 
would  lead  him  to  dispute  the  right  of  his  daughter;  and 
King  Robert  was  willing  to  spare  Scotland  the  risk  of  a  dis- 
puted claim  to  the  throne,  found  by  experience  to  be  the  in- 
let of  so  many  evils,  even  at  the  sacrifice  of  postponing  the 
right  of  his  own  daughter.  If  this  be  the  ground  of  the  ar- 
rangement, it  is  an  additional  instance  of  the  paternal  regard 
which  the  great  Bruce  bore  to  the  nation  whose  monarchy 
he  had  restored,  and  whose  independence  he  had  asserted. 

But  Edward  Bruce 's  ambition  was  too  impatient  to  wait 
till  the  succession  to  the  Scottish  crown  should  become  open 
to  him  by  the  death  of  his  brother,  when  an  opportunity 
seemed  to  offer  itself  which  offered  a  prospect  of  instantly 
gaining  a  kingdom  by  the  sword.  This  occurred  when  a 
party  of  Irish  chiefs,  discontented  with  the  rule  of  the  En- 
glish invaders,  sent  an  invitation  to  Edward  Bruce  to  come 
over  with  a  force  adequate  to  expel  the  English  from  Ire5- 
land,  and  assume  the  sceptre  of  that  fair  island.  By  con- 
sent of  King  Robert,  who  was  pleased  to  make  a  diversion 
against  England  upon  a  vulnerable  point,  and  not,  perhaps, 
sorry  to  be  rid  of  a  restless  spirit,  which  became  impatient 
in  the  lack  of  employment,  Edward  invaded  Ireland  at  the 
head  of  a  force  of  six  thousand  Scots.  He  fought  many  bat- 
tles, and  gained  them  all.  He  became  master  of  the  prov 
ince  of  Ulster,  and  was  solemnly  crowned  king  of  Ireland ; 
but  found  himself  amid  his  successes  obliged  to  entreat  the 
assistance  of  King  Robert  with  fresh  supplies ;  for  the  im- 
petuous Edward,  who  never  spared  his  own  person,  was 
equally  reckless  of  exposing  his  followers;  and  his  successes 
were  misfortunes,  in  so  far  as  they  wasted  the  brave  men 
with  whose  lives  they  were  purchased. 


142  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Robert  Bruce  led  supplies  to  his  brother's  assistance,  with 
an  army  which  enabled  him  to  overrun  Ireland,  but  without 
gaining  any  permanent  advantage.  He  threatened  Dublin, 
and  penetrated  as  far  as  Limerick  in  the  west,  but  was  com- 
pelled, by  scarcity  of  provisions,  to  retire  again  into  Ulster, 
in  the  spring  of  1317.  He  shortly  after  returned  to  Scot- 
land, leaving  a  part  of  his  troops  with  Edward,  though  prob- 
ably convinced  that  his  brother  was  engaged  in  a  desperate 
and  fruitless  enterprise,  where  he  could  not  rely  on  the  faith 
of  his  Irish  subjects,  as  he  termed  them,  or  the  steadiness  of 
their  troops,  while  Scotland  was  too  much  exhausted  to  sup- 
ply him  with  new  armies  of  auxiliaries. 

After  his  brother's  departure,  Edward's  career  of  ambi- 
tion was  closed  at  the  battle  of  Dundalk,  where,  October  5, 
1318,  fortune  at  length  failed  a  warrior  who  had  tried  her 
patience  by  so  many  hazards.  On  that  fatal  day  he  encoun- 
tered, against  the  advice  of  his  officers,  an  Anglo-Irish  army 
ten  times  more  numerous  than  his  own.  A  strong  cham- 
pion among  the  English,  named  John  Maupas,  singling  out 
the  person  of  Edward,  slew  him,  and  received  death  at  his 
hands :  their  bodies  were  found  stretched  upon  each  other 
in  the  field  of  battle.  The  victors  ungenerously  mutilated 
the  body  of  him  before  whom  most  of  them  had  repeatedly 
fled.  A  general  officer  of  the  Scots,  called  John  Thomson, 
led  back  the  remnant  of  the  Scottish  force  to  their  own  coun- 
try. And  thus  ended  the  Scottish  invasion  of  Ireland,  with 
the  loss  of  many  brave  soldiers,  whom  their  country  after- 
ward severely  missed  in  her  hour  of  need. 

Meanwhile,  in  1315,  some  important  events  had  taken 
place  in  Scotland  while  these  Irish  campaigns  were  in  prog- 
ress. The  king,  whose  attention  was  much  devoted  to  nau- 
tical matters,  had  threatened  the  English  coast  with  a  dis- 
embarkation at  several  points.  He  had  also  destroyed  what 
authority  his  ancient  and  mortal  foe,  John  of  Lorn,  still  re- 
tained in  the  Hebrides,  made  him  prisoner,  and  consigned 
him  to  the  castle  of  Loch  Leven,  where  he  died  in  captivity. 
New  efforts  to  disturb  the  English  frontiers  revived  the  evils 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  143 

of  those  unhappy  countries.  In  1316,  Robert,  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  army,  penetrated  into  Yorkshire,  and  de- 
stroyed the  country  as  far  as  Richmond,  which  only  escaped 
the  flames  by  paying  a  ransom.  But  an  assault  upon  Ber- 
wick, and  an  attempt  to  storm  Carlisle,  were  both  success- 
fully resisted  by  the  English  garrisons. 

During  the  time  that  Robert  Bruce  was  in  Ireland  with 
his  brother,  the  English  on  their  side  made  several  attempts 
on  the  borders.  But  though  the  king  was  absent,  Douglas 
and  Stewart  defended  the  frontiers  with  the  most  successful 
valor. 

A  remarkable  action  was  fought  near  a  manor  called 
Linthaughlee,  about  two  miles  above  Jedburgh.  James 
Douglas  was  lying  at  this  place,  which  is  on  the  banks  of 
the  Jed,  and  then  surrounded  by  the  forest  land  called  Jed 
Wood,  which  stretches  away  toward  the  English  border. 
Here  he  heard  that  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  having  in  his  com- 
pany Sir  Thomas  de  Richmond,  earl  of  Brittany,  with  an 
English  force  of  ten  thousand  men,  was  advancing  from 
Northumberland  to  take  him  by  surprise.  Douglas  (as  had 
been  said  of  one  of  his  ancestors)  was  never  found  asleep 
by  his  enemies,  being  as  vigilant  as  he  was  sagacious  and 
brave.  He  immediately  resolved  to  be  beforehand  with  the 
invaders.  Having  selected  a  strait  passage  in  the  line  of 
march  of  the  English  earls,  he  caused  the  copse-wood  on 
each  side  to  be  wrought  into  a  sort  of  empalement  or  stock- 
ade, forming  a  defile,  through  which  the  road  must  pass, 
and  greatly  adding  to  its  natural  difficulties.  He  placed  his 
archers  in  ambush  near  this  place;  and  when  the  English 
had  engaged  themselves  in  the  narrow  pathway,  he  poured 
on  them  a  volley  of  arrows,  and  charged  them  with  the  ut- 
most fury.  As  the  English  could  not  form  themselves  into 
order,  either  for  advance  or  for  retreat,  they  were  thrown 
into  confusion,  and  compelled  to  fly.  It  was  the  peculiarity 
of  Douglas  to  unite  the  personal  courage  and  adventurous 
spirit  of  a  knight-errant  with  the  calm  skill  and  deliberation 
of  an  accomplished  leader.  He  threw  himself  headlong  into 


144  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

the  melee,  singled  out  the  Earl  of  Brittany,  and,  grappling 
with  him,  stabbed  him  to  the  heart  with  his  dagger.  Douglas 
carried  off  a  fur  hat  which  the  unfortunate  earl  wore  above 
his  helmet,  as  a  trophy  of  his  valor  and  success.  The  House 
of  Douglas  still  wreathe  the  escutcheon  of  their  family  with 
the  representation  of  an  empalement  or  barrier  of  young 
trees,  in  memory  of  the  stratagem  successfully  employed 
by  the  good  Lord  James  at  Linthaughlee. 

Edmund  de  Caillou,  a  French  knight,  lay  about  the  same 
time  (1317),  in  the  garrison  of  Berwick,  being  created  gover- 
nor of  that  town.  With  the  enterprise  of  his  countrymen,  he 
boasted  he  would  drive  a  prey  from  Scotland.  Accordingly 
he  sallied  forth  with  a  band  of  Gascons  like  himself;  but  as 
they  were  returning  with  a  great  spoil  they  were  intercepted 
by  Douglas,  and  Caillou  lost  his  booty  and  life.  Sir  Robert 
Neville  was  also  in  Berwick.  He  upbraided  such  of  the 
Gascons  as  escaped  from  the  field  with  cowardice;  and  as 
the  crestfallen  Frenchmen  pleaded  the  irresistible  prowess 
of  Douglas,  Neville  proudly  expressed  a  wish  to  see  the 
Scottish  chieftain's  banner  displayed,  averring  he  would 
himself  give  battle  wherever  he  beheld  it.  This  vaunt 
reached  the  ears  of  Douglas,  and  shortly  after  the  for- 
midable banner  was  seen  in  the  neighborhood  of  Berwick, 
where  the  smoke  of  blazing  hamlets  marked  its  presence. 
Robert  Neville  collected  his  forces,  and  sallied  out  to  make 
good,  like  a  true  knight,  the  words  that  he  had  spoken. 
Douglas  no  sooner  saw  him  issue  from  the  town,  than  he 
went  straight  to  the  encounter.  Neville  and  his  men  fought 
bravely,  and  the  English  champion  met  Douglas  hand  to 
hand.  But  the  skill,  strength,  and  fortune  of  the  Scottish 
hero  were  predominant.  Neville  fell  by  the  sword  of  Doug- 
las, and  his  men  were  defeated. 

Another  military  incident  shows  that  the  spirit  of  the 
king,  which  called  forth  and  animated  the  talents  of  Doug- 
las, could  awaken  a  congenial  desire  of  honor  even  in  men 
whose  profession  removed  them  from  arms  or  battle.  An 
attempt  of  Edward  II.  to  retaliate  the  aggressions  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  lio 

Scots,  was  made  by  sending  a  fleet  into  the  Firth  of  Forth, 
and  disembarking  a  considerable  body  of  troops  at  Dunie- 
brissle  on  the  Fife  coast.  The  sheriff  collected  about  five 
hundred  Scottish  horse,  who  went  to  reconnoitre  the  invad- 
ers ;  but,  thinking  themselves  unequal  to  the  task  of  resist- 
ing, they  retreated  precipitately.  They  were  met,  as  they 
were  riding  off  in  disorder,  by  William  Sinclair,  bishop  of 
Dunkeld,  a  man  hardy  of  heart  and  tall  of  person,  who 
resided  near  the  coast.  "Out  upon  you  for  false  knights, 
whose  spurs  should  be  stricken  from  your  heels!"  said  the 
prelate  to  the  fugitive  sheriff  and  his  followers ;  then  catch- 
ing a  spear  from  the  soldier  next  him,  "Who  loves  Scot- 
land, "  he  said,  "let  him  follow  me!"  The  daring  bishop 
then  led  a  desperate  charge  against  the  English,  who  had 
not  completed  their  disembarkation,  and  were  driven  back 
to  their  ships  with  loss.  When  Bruce  heard  of  the  prel- 
ate's gallantry,  he  declared  Sinclair  should  hereafter  be  his 
bishop,  and  by  the  name  of  the  king's  bishop  he  was  long 
distinguished. 

Our  history  has  so  long  conducted  us  through  an  unvary- 
ing recital  of  scenes  of  war  and  battle,  that  we  feel  a  relief 
in  being  called  to  consider  some  intrigues  of  a  more  peaceful 
character,  which  place  the  sagacity  of  Robert  Bruce  in  as 
remarkable  a  point  of  view  as  his  bravery.  The  king  of 
England,  suffering  by  the  continuation  of  a  war  which  dis- 
tressed him  on  all  points,  yet  unwilling  to  purchase  peace  by 
the  sacrifices  which  the  Scots  demanded,  fell  on  the  scheme 
of  procuring  a  truce  without  loss  of  dignity  by  the  interven- 
tion of  the  pope.  John  XXII.,  then  supreme  pontiff,  was 
induced,  by  the  English  influence,  assuming,  it  is  said,  the 
interesting  complexion  of  gold,  to  issue  a  bull,  commanding 
a  two  years'  peace  between  England  and  Scotland.  Two 
cardinals  were  intrusted  with  this  document,  with  orders  to 
pass  to  the  nations  which  it  concerned,  and  there  make  it 
known.  These  dignitaries  of  the  Church  had  also  letters, 
both  sealed  and  patent,  addressed  to  both  kings.  And  pri- 
vately they  were  invested  with  powers  of  fulminating  a 
7  <*  VOL.  I. 


146  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  king  of  Scots,  his 
brother  Edward,  and  any  others  of  their  adherents  whom 
they  might  think  fit.  The  cardinals,  arrived  in  England, 
despatched  two  nuncios  to  Scotland,  the  bishop  of  Corbeil 
and  a  priest  called  Aumori,  to  deliver  the  pope's  letters  to 
the  Scottish  king.  For  comfort  and  dignity  in  their  jour- 
ney, these  two  reverend  nuncios  set  out  northward,  in  the 
train  of  Lewis  de  Beaumont,  bishop-elect  of  Durham,  who 
was  passing  to  his  diocese  to  receive  consecration.  But 
within  a  stage  of  Durham  the  whole  party  was  surprised 
by  a  number  of  banditti,  commanded  by  two  robber  knights, 
called  Middieton  and  Selby,  who,  from  being  soldiers,  had 
become  chiefs  of  outlaws.  Undeterred  by  the  sacred  char- 
acter of  the  churchmen,  they  rifled  them  to  the  last  farthing, 
and  dismissing  the  nuncios  on  their  journey  to  Scotland,  car- 
ried away  the  bishop-elect,  whom  they  detained  a  captive, 
till  they  extorted  a  ransom  so  large  that  the  plate  and  jewels 
of  the  cathedral  were  necessarily  sold  to  defray  it. 

Disheartened  by  so  severe  a  welcome  to  the  scene  of 
hostilities,  the  nuncios  at  length  came  before  Bruce,  and 
presented  the  pope's  letters.  Those  which  were  open  he 
commanded  to  be  read,  and  listened  to  the  contents  with 
much  respect.  But,  ere  opening  the  sealed  epistles,  he  ob- 
served that  they  were  addressed  not  to  the  king,  but  to 
Lord  Robert  Bruce,  governor  in  Scotland.  "These,"  he 
said,  "I  will  not  receive  nor  open.  I  have  subjects  of  my 
own  name,  and  some  of  them  may  have  a  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment. For  such  the  holy  father's  letters  may  be  designed, 
but  they  cannot  be  intended  for  me,  who  am  sovereign  of 
Scotland."  The  nuncios  endeavored  to  apologize,  by  alleg- 
ing it  was  not  the  custom  of  the  Church  to  prejudice  the 
right  of  either  party  during  the  dependency  of  a  contro- 
versy, by  any  word  or  expression.  "It  is  I,  not  Edward," 
said  Bruce,  "who  am  prejudiced  by  the  conduct  of  the  holy 
Church.  My  spiritual  mother  does  me  wrong  in  refusing  to 
give  me  the  name  of  king,  under  which  I  am  obeyed  by  my 
people;  and  but  that  I  reverence  our  mother  Church,  I  should 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  147 

answer  you  differently."  The  nuncios  had  no  alternative 
but  to  retire  and  report  their  answer  to  the  cardinals.  These 
dignitaries  resolved,  at  all  risks,  to  execute  the  pope's  com- 
mission, by  publishing  the  bulls  and  instruments.  But  not 
caring  to  trust  their  reverend  persons  across  the  border,  they 
confided  to  Adam  Newton,  father  guardian  of  the  Friars 
Minorite  of  Berwick,  the  momentous  and  somewhat  perilous 
task  of  communicating  to  Robert  Bruce  what  they  had  no 
reason  to  think  would  be  agreeable  tidings. 

Father  Newton  acted  as  a  man  of  due  caution.  He  did . 
not  intrust  himself  or  the  documents  within  Scottish  ground 
until  he  had  obtained  an  especial  safe-conduct.  The  bulls 
and  papal  instruments  were  then  produced  to  Bruce  and  his 
council ;  but  finding  the  title  of  king  was  withheld  from  him, 
Robert  refused  to  listen  to  or  open  them,  and  returned  them 
t(?  the  bearer  with  the  utmost  contempt.  The  father  guar- 
dian next  attempted  to  proclaim  the  papal  truce  for  two 
years.  But  the  military  hearers  received  the  intimation 
with  such  marks  of  anger  and  contempt  that  Newton  be- 
gan to  fear  they  would  not  confine  the  expressions  of  their 
displeasure  to  words  or  gestures.  He  prayed  earnestly  that 
he  might  either  have  license  to  pass  forward  into  Scotland 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  conference  with  some  of  the  Scot- 
tish prelates,  or  at  least  that  he  might  have  safe-conduct  for 
his  return  to  Berwick.  Both  requests  were  refused,  and  the 
unlucky  father  guardian  was  commanded  to  be  gone  at  his 
own  proper  peril.  The  reader  will  anticipate  the  conse- 
quences. The  friar  on  his  return  fell  into  the  hands  of 
four  outlaws,  who  stripped  him  of  his  papers  and  de- 
spatches, tore,  it  is  said,  the  pope's  bull,  doubtless  to  pre- 
vent that  copy  at  least  from  being  made  use  of,  and  sent 
him  back  to  Berwick  unhurt,  indeed,  but  sorely  frightened. 
It  is  diverting  enough  to  find  that  the  guardian  surmised 
that,  by  some  means  or  other,  the  documents  he  was  in- 
trusted with  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord  Robert 
Bruce  and  his  accomplices.  It  was  thus  that  with  a  mix- 
ture of  firmness  and  dexterity  Bruce  eluded  a  power  which 


148  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

it  would  not  have  been  politic  to  oppose  directly,  and  baffled 
the  attempts  of  this  servile  pontiff  to  embarrass  him  by 
spiritual  opposition. 

When  Father  Adam  Newton  delivered  his  message,  or 
rather  proffered  to  deliver  it,  to  Robert  Druce,  the  Scottish 
king  was  lying  with  a  body  of  troops  in  the  wood  of  Old 
Cambus,  where  he  was  secretly  maturing  an  important  en- 
terprise. Of  all  Edward  I.'s  northern  conquests,  Berwick 
alone  remained  with  his  unfortunate  son.  Its  importance 
as  a  commercial  depot  was  great ;  as  a  garrison  and  frontier 
town,  greater  still,  since  it  gave  whichever  kingdom  pos- 
sessed it  the  means  of  invading  the  other  at  pleasure.  For 
this  reason  Edward  I.  had  secured  and  garrisoned  the  town 
and  castle  with  great  care;  and  Edward  II.,  careless  of  his 
father's  precepts  and  policy  in  many  respects,  had  adhered 
to  his  example  in  watching  the  security  of  Berwick  with  a 
jealous  eye.  A  governor  was  placed  in  the  town,  who  exer- 
cised such  rigorous  discipline  as  gave  offence  to  the  citizens 
of  Berwick.  A  burgess  named  Spalding,  of  Scottish  extrac- 
tion probably,  if  we  may  judge  by  his  name,  and  certainly 
married  to  a  Scottish  woman,  was  so  much  offended  at  some 
hard  usage  which  he  had  received  from  the  English  gov- 
ernor, that  he  resolved,  in  revenge,  to  betray  the  place  to 
Robert  Bruce.  For  this  purpose  he  communicated  his  plan 
to  the  Earl  of  March,  who  had  abandoned  the  English  inter- 
est and  become  a  good  Scotsman.  His  correspondent  carried 
the  proposal  to  the  king.  "You  did  well  to  let  me  know 
this,"  said  the  Bruce,  with  a  shrewdness  which  shows  his 
acquaintance  with  the  nature  of  mankind  and  the  character 
of  his  generals;  "Douglas  and  Randolph  are  emulous  of 
glory,  and  if  you  had  intrusted  one  of  them  with  the  secret, 
the  other  would  have  thought  himself  neglected;  but  I  will 
employ  the  abilities  of  both."  Accordingly  he  commanded 
his  two  celebrated  generals  to  undertake  the  enterprise.  By 
agreement  with  Spalding  they  came  beneath  the  walls  of 
the  town  on  a  night  when  he  was  going  the  rounds,  and 
received  his  assistance  in  the  escalade.  Some  of  their  men, 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  149 

when  they  had  entered  the  town,  broke  their  ranks  to  plun- 
der, and  afforded  the  governor  of  the  castle  the  opportunity 
of  a  desperate  sally,  which  very  nearly  cost  the  assailants 
dear.  But  Douglas,  Randolph,  and  a  young  knight,  called 
Sir  William  Keith  of  Galston,  drove  back  the  English,  after 
some  hard  fighting,  into  the  precincts  of  the  castle,  which 
soon  after  surrendered  when  the  king  appeared  in  person 
before  it.  Bruce,  delighted  with  this  acquisition,  placed  the 
town  and  castle  in  charge  of  his  brave  son-in-law,  Walter, 
the  high-steward  of  Scotland.  He  caused  the  place  to  be 
fully  victualled  for  a  year ;  five  hundred  gentlemen,  friends 
and  relations  of  the  steward,  having  volunteered  their  ser- 
vices to  augment  the  garrison. 

Having  thus  made  sure  of  his  important  acquisition, 
Bruce  anew  resumed  his  destructive  incursions  into  the 
northern  provinces  of  England,  burned  Northallerton,  Bor- 
oughbridge,  and  Skipton  in  Craven,  forced  Rippon  to  ran- 
som itself  for  a  thousand  marks,  and  returned  from  this 
work  of  ravage  uninterrupted  and  unopposed,  his  soldiers 
driving  their  prisoners  before  them  "like  flocks  of  sheep." 
Such  passages,  quoted  from  English  history,  recall  to  the 
reader  the  invasion  of  the  Picts  and  Scots  upon  the  unwar- 
like  South  Britons.  But  the  ascendency  asserted  by  the 
Scots  over  the  English  during  this  reign  did  not  rest  so 
much  on  any  superiority  of  courage  on  the  part  of  the  for- 
mer, though  doubtless  repeated  victory  had  given  them 
confidence,  and  depressed  for  the  tune  the  martial  spirit  of 
the  enemy :  it  was  to  the  conduct  of  the  leaders,  and  to  the 
persevering  unity  of  plan  which  they  pursued,  that  the  Scot- 
tish successes  may  be  justly  attributed.  The  feuds  among 
the  nobility  of  England  ran  high,  and  the  public  quarrels 
between  the  king  and  his  barons  distracted  the  movements 
of  the  government  and  the  military  defence  of  the  kingdom. 
The  six  northern  counties  had  been  so  long  and  so  dreadfully 
harassed,  that  they  lost  all  habit  of  self-defence,  and  were 
willing  to  compound,  by  payment  of  ransom  and  tribute, 
with  the  Scots,  rather  than  await  the  reluctant  and  feeble 


150  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

support  of  their  countrymen.  Many  of  them,  as  the  allegi- 
ance of  borderers  usually  hung  light  on  them,  chose  rather 
to  join  the  enemy  in  preying  on  more  southern  provinces, 
than  to  defend  their  own;  and  the  whole  country  was  in 
that  state  of  total  discontent,  division,  and  misrule,  that  it 
was  found  impossible  to  combine  the  national  forces  for  one 
common  object. 

Omitting  for  the  present  some  civil  affairs  of  considerable 
importance,  that  we  may  trace  the  events  of  the  war,  we 
have  now  to  mention  that  Edward  II.,  stung  with  resent- 
ment at  the  loss  of  Berwick,  determined  on  a  desperate  effort 
to  regain  that  important  town.  Having  made  a  temporary 
agreement  with  his  discontented  barons,  at  the  head  of 
whom  was  his  relation,  Thomas,  earl  of  Lancaster,  the 
English  king  was  able  to  assemble  a  powerful  army,  with 
which  he  invested  the  place,  24th  July,  1319. 

As  the  walls  of  Berwick  were  so  low  that  a  man  standing 
beneath  might  strike  with  a  lance  a  defender  on  the  battle- 
ments, a  general  attack  was  resolved  upon  on  all  sides.  At 
the  same  time  an  English  vessel  entered  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  which  was  filled  with  soldiers,  intended  to  board  the 
battlements  from  its  yards  and  rigging.  But  as  the  ship 
approached  the  walls  with  its  yards  manned  for  the  proposed 
attempt,  she  grounded  on  a  shoal,  and  was  presently  set  on 
fire  by  the  Scots.  The  land  attack,  after  having  been  sup- 
ported with  courage  and  resisted  with  obstinacy  for  several 
hours,  was  found  equally  void  of  success.  The  besiegers 
then  retired  to  their  trenches,  having  lost  many  men.  Next 
day,  a  tremendous  engine  was  brought  forward,  called  a 
sow,  being  a  large  shed  composed  of  very  strong  timbers, 
and  having  a  roof  sloping  like  the  back  of  the  animal  from 
which  it  took  its  name.  Like  the  Roman  testudo,  the 
sow,  or  movable  covert,  was  designed  to  protect  a  body  of 
miners  beneath  its  shelter,  while,  running  the  end  of  the 
engine  close  to  the  wall,  they  employed  themselves  in  un- 
dermining the  defences  of  the  place.  The  Scots  had  reposed 
their  safety  in  the  skill  of  a  mercenary  soldier,  famed  for  his 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  151 

science  as  an  engineer.  This  person,  by  name  John  Crab, 
and  a  Fleming  by  birth,  had  erected  a  huge  catapult,  or 
machine  for  discharging  stones,  with  which  he  proposed  to 
destroy  the  English  sow.  The  event  of  the  siege  was  like 
to  depend  on  his  skill,  for  the  number  of  the  besiegers  was 
so  great  as  to  keep  the  defenders  engaged  on  every  point  at 
once,  so  that  if  a  part  of  the  walls  were  undermined  by  favor 
of  the  sow  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  collect  soldiers  to 
man  the  breach.  The  huge  engine  moved  slowly  toward 
the  walls;  one  stone,  and  then  a  second,  was  hurled  against 
it  in  vain,  and  amid  the  shouts  of  both  parties  the  massive 
shed  was  approaching  the  bulwark.  Crab  had  now  calcu- 
lated his  distance  and  the  power  of  his  machine,  and  the 
third  stone,  a  huge  mass  of  rock,  fell  on  the  middle  of  the 
sow,  and  broke  down  its  formidable  timbers.  "The  English 
sow  has  farrowed!"  shouted  the  exulting  Scots,  when  they 
saw  the  soldiers  and  miners  who  had  lain  within  the  machine 
running  headlong  to  save  themselves  by  gaining  the  trenches. 
The  Scots,  by  hurling  lighted  combustibles,  of  which  they 
had  a  quantity  prepared,  consumed  the  materials  of  the  En- 
glish engine.  The  steward,  who,  with  a  hundred  men  of 
reserve,  was  going  from  post  to  post  distributing  succors, 
had  disposed  of  all  his  attendants  except  one,  when  he  sud- 
denly received  the  alarming  intelligence  that  the  English 
were  in  the  act  of  forcing  the  gate  called  St.  Mary's.  The 
gallant  knight,  worthy  to  be  what  fate  designed  him,  the 
father  of  a  race  of  monarchs,  rushed  to  the  spot,  threw  open 
the  half -burned  gate,  and  making  a  sudden  sally,  beat  the 
enemy  off  from  that  as  well  as  the  other  points  of  attack. 

Bruce,  although  the  garrison  of  Berwick  had  as  yet  made 
a  successful  defence,  became  anxious  for  the  consequences  of 
its  being  continued,  and  resolved  to  make  an  attempt  to  re- 
lieve his  son-in-law.  To  attack  the  besiegers  was  the  most 
obvious  mode ;  but  in  this  case  the  attempt  must  have  proved 
a  precarious  and  hazardous  operation,  as  the  English  were 
defended  in  their  position  before  Berwick  by  strong  intrench- 
ments,  were  brave,  besides,  and  numerous ;  and  it  was  against 


152  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Bruce's  system  of  tactics  to  hazard  a  general  action  where  it 
could  be  avoided,  unless  recommended  by  circumstances  of 
advantage  which  could  not  exist  in  the  present  case. 

But  he  resolved  to  accomplish  the  relief  of  Berwick,  by 
making  such  a  powerful  diversion  as  should  induce  Edward 
to  raise  the  siege.  With  this  view,  fifteen  thousand  men, 
under  Douglas  and  Randolph,  entered  England  on  the  west 
marshes,  and  turning  eastward,  made  a  hasty  march  toward 
York,  for  the  purpose  of  surprising  the  person  of  the  queen 
of  England,  who  then  resided  near  that  city.  Isabella  re- 
ceived notice  of  their  purpose,  and  fled  hastily  southward. 
It  may  be  observed  in  passing  that  her  husband  was  little 
indebted  to  those  who  supplied  her  with  the  tidings  which 
enabled  her  to  make  her  escape. 

The  Scots  proceeded,  as  usual,  to  ravage  the  country. 
The  archbishop  of  York,  in  the  absence  of  a  more  profes- 
sional leader,  assumed  arms,  and  assembled  a  large  but 
motley  army,  consisting  partly  of  country  people,  ecclesias- 
tics, and  others,  having  little  skill  or  spirit  save  that  which 
despair  might  inspire.  The  Scots  encountered  them  with 
the  advantage  which  leaders  of  high  courage  and  experience 
possess  over  those  who  are  inexperienced  in  war,  and  veteran 
troops  over  a  miscellaneous  and  disorderly  levy.  The  con- 
flict took  place  near  Mitton,  on  the  river  Swale,  20th  Sep- 
tember, 1319.  By  the  simple  stratagem  of  firing  some 
stacks  of  hay,  the  Scots  raised  a  dense  smoke,  under  cover 
of  which  a  division  of  the  army  turned  unperceived  around 
the  flank  of  the  archbishop's  host,  and  got  into  their  rear. 
The  irregular  ranks  of  the  English  were  thus  attacked  in 
front  and  rear  at  once,  and  instantly  routed  with  great 
slaughter.  Three  hundred  of  the  clerical  order  fell  in  the 
action,  or  were  slain  in  the  rout,  while  many  of  the  fugitives 
were  driven  into  the  Swale.  In  the  savage  pleasantry  of  the 
times,  this  battle,  in  which  so  many  clergymen  fell,  was 
called  the  white  battle,  and  the  Chapter  of  Mitton. 

The  tidings  of  this  disaster  speedily  obliged  Edward  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Berwick,  and  march  to  the  south  in  hope 


HISTOR1    OF   SCOTLAND  153 

to  intercept  the  Scots  on  their  return  from  Yorkshire.  In- 
deed, the  northern  barons,  with  the  Earl  of  Lancaster  at 
their  head,  knowing  their  estates  were  exposed  to  a  victori- 
ous and  active  enemy,  left  Edward  no  alternative,  but  drew 
off  with  their  vassals  without  waiting  his  leave.  It  was  not 
the  business  of  Randolph  and  Douglas  to  abide  an  encounter 
with  the  royal  array  of  England,  at  the  head  of  an  army  of 
light  troops.  They  eluded  the  enemy  by  retreating  to  their 
own  country  through  the  west  marshes,  loaded  with  prison- 
ers and  spoil.  They  had  plundered  in  this  incursion  eighty- 
four  towns  and  villages.  About  the  close  of  the  same  year, 
Douglas  renewed  the  ravage  in  Cumberland  and  "Westmore- 
land, and  again  returned  with  a  great  prey  of  captives  and 
cattle,  destroying  at  the  same  time  the  harvest  which  had 
been  gathered  into  the  farmyards.  It  was  said  that  the 
name  of  this  indefatigable  and  successful  chief  had  become 
so  formidable  that  women  used,  in  the  northern  counties, 
to  still  their  froward  children  by  threatening  them  with  the 
Black  Douglas. 

These  sinister  events  led  to  a  truce  between  the  two  coun- 
tries for  the  space  of  two  years,  to  which  Bruce,  who  had 
much  to  do  for  the  internal  regulation  of  his  kingdom,  will- 
ingly consented.  The  determination  of  the  royal  succession, 
the  uncertainty  of  which  had  caused  so  much  evil,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  a  reconciliation  with  the  pope,  were  the 
principal  civil  objects  to  be  obtained.  The  former,  indeed, 
with  some  other  important  matters,  had  already  been  in 
part  accomplished ;  but  the  death  of  Edward  Bruce  rendered 
some  alterations  necessary. 

In  1318  a  parliament  was  convoked  at  Scone,  whose  first 
act  was  an  engagement  for  solemn  allegiance  to  the  king, 
and  for  aiding  him  against  all  mortals  who  should  menace 
the  liberties  of  Scotland,  or  impeach  his  royal  rights,  how 
eminent  soever  might  be  the  power,  authority,  and  dignity 
of  the  opponent ;  peculiar  expressions  by  which  the  pope  was 
indicated.  Whatever  native  of  Scotland  should  fail  in  his 
allegiance  was  denounced  a  traitor,  without  remission.  Ed- 


154.  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

ward  Bruce  being  dead  without  heirs  of  his  body,  and  Mar- 
jory, at  that  time  the  Bruce's  only  child,  being  also  deceased, 
the  infant  prince  Robert,  son  of  the  late  princess  and  her  hus- 
band the  steward  of  Scotland,  and  grandson  of  Robert,  was 
proclaimed  heir,  in  default  of  male  issue  of  the  king's  body. 
The  regency  of  the  kingdom  was  settled  on  Thomas  Ran- 
dolph, earl  of  Moray,  and  failing  him,  upon  James,  Lord 
Douglas.  Rules  were  laid  down  for  the  succession  to  the 
kingdom,  the  import  of  which  bears  that  the  male  heir  near- 
est to  the  king  in  the  direct  line  of  descent  should  succeed, 
and  failing  him,  the  nearest  female  in  the  direct  line;  and 
failing  the  whole  direct  line,  the  nearest  male  heir  in  the 
collateral  line,  respect  being  always  held  to  the  right  of 
blood  by  which  King  Robert  himself  had  succeeded  to  the 
crown. — Mr.  Kerr,  in  a  respectable  history  of  Robert  Bruce, 
remarks  that  these  provisions  were  in  some  supposed  cases 
of  difficult  interpretation.  It  seems  that  they  were  inten- 
tionally left  ambiguous,  since  to  have  adopted  distinctly  the 
modern  rules  of  succession  would  have  thrown  a  slur  on  the 
title  by  which  the  king's  grandfather,  Robert  the  Competi- 
tor, claimed  the  throne,  and  the  king  himself  held  it. 

An  assize  of  arms  was  next  enacted.  Every  man  being 
liable  to  serve  in  defence  of  his  country,  all  Scottish  natives 
were  required  to  provide  themselves  with  weapons  according 
to  their  rank  and  means.  Every  man  worth  ten  pounds  a 
year  of  land  was  enjoined  to  have  in  readiness  a  buff  jacket 
and  head-piece  of  steel;  those  whose  income  was  less  might 
substitute  iron  for  the  back  and  breast-piece,  and  the  knap- 
scap  or  helmet.  All  these  were  to  have  gloves  of  plate  and 
a  sword  and  spear.  Each  man  who  possessed  a  cow  was  to 
be  equipped  with  a  bow  and  sheaf  of  arrows,  or  a  spear.  No 
provisions  are  made  for  horsemen.  The  royal  tenants  in 
chief,  doubtless,  came  forth  as  men-at-arms;  but  the  policy 
of  Robert  Bruce  rested  the  chief  defence  of  Scotland  on  its 
excellent  infantry.  Prudent  and  humane  rules  were  laid 
down  for  providing  for  the  armed  array,  when  passing  to 
and  from  the  king's  host,  directed  to  the  end  of  rendering 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  155 

them  as  little  burdensome  as  possible  to  the  country  which 
they  traversed  in  arms,  At  the  same  time  they  were  to  be 
supplied  with  provisions  on  tender  of  payment.  The  supply- 
ing warlike  weapons  or  armor  to  England  was  strictly  pro- 
hibited, under  pain  of  death. 

The  rights  and  independence  of  the  Scottish  Church  were 
dauntlessly  asserted,  in  resentment,  probably,  of  the  pope's 
unfriendly  aspect  toward  Bruce.  Ecclesiastics  were  prohib- 
ited from  remitting  money  to  Rome.  Native  Scotsmen  re- 
siding in  a  foreign  country  were  not  permitted  to  draw  their 
revenues  from  Scotland.  Such  were  the  patriotic  measures 
adopted  by  the  parliament  of  Scotland  held  at  Scone  in  1318. 

The  haughty  pontiff,  John  XXII.,  had  been  highly  of- 
fended with  the  manner  in  which  the  Bruce  had  neglected 
his  injunctions  for  a  truce,  and  refused  to  receive  the  letters 
which  his  holiness  had  addressed  to  him.  In  1318  he  en- 
joinod  the  two  cardinals  to  publish  the  bulls  of  excommuni- 
cation against  Bruce  and  his  adherents.  The  reasons  alleged 
were  that  the  Scottish  governor,  as  he  affected  to  term  him, 
had  taken  Berwick  during  the  papal  truce;  that  he  had  re- 
fused to  receive  the  nuncios  of  the  legates ;  and  certain  secret 
reasons  were  hinted  at,  which  his  holiness  for  the  present 
kept  private.  Perhaps  the  most  powerful  of  these  were  pen- 
sions granted  by  Edward  to  the  pope's  brother  and  nephews, 
and  some  other  influential  cardinals,  who  enjoyed  the  pon- 
tiff's favor  and  confidence.  Neither  the  Church  nor  people 
of  Scotland  paid  any  attention  to  these  bulls,  though  pub- 
lished by  the  legates  in  all  solemnity.  The  flame  of  national 
freedom  and  independence  burned  too  clear  and^strong  to  be 
disturbed  by  the  breath  of  Rome. 

Edward  in  vain  attempted  to  prevail  on  other  princes  and 
countries  to  partake  with  him  and  the  pope  in  the«common 
cry  which  they  endeavored  to  raise  against  Robert  Bruce 
and  his  kingdom.  He  applied  to  the  Count  of  Flanders  and 
other  princes  and  states  of  the  Netherlands,  praying  them  to 
break  off  all  commercial  intercourse  with  the  Scots  as  a  re 
bellious  and  excommunicated  people.  But  the  Dutch,  who 


15(1  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

prospered  by  countenancing  a  free  trade  with  all  men,  coolly 
and  peremptorily  rejected  the  proposal. 

The  pope  continued  obstinate  hi  his  displeasure,  and  as 
it  broke  forth  anew  just  after  the  retreat  of  King  Edward 
and  the  truce  he  had  made  with  Scotland  (1319),  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  the  holy  father  resumed  his  severe 
measures  in  compliance  with  the  desires  of  the  English  king, 
who  endeavored  thus  to  maintain  a  spiritual  war  against 
Bruce  after  having  laid  down  his  temporal  weapons.  In- 
deed, it  will  afterward  appear  that  Robert  alleged  tho  mach- 
inations of  Edward  II.  at  Home  as  an  apology  for  his  own 
breach  of  the  truce.  These  intrigues  were,  however,  success- 
ful; the»pope  once  more  renewed  the  thunders  of  his  excom- 
munication against  Bruce  and  his  adherents,  in  a  bull  of 
great  length ;  and  the  inefficacy  that  had  hitherto  attended 
these  efforts  of  his  spleen  had  offended  the  pope  so  highly 
that  the  prelates  of  York  and  London  were  ordered  to  repeat 
the  ceremony,  with  bell,  book,  and  candle,  every  Sunday  and 
festival  day  through  the  year. 

The  parliament  of  Scotland  now  took  it  upon  them  to 
reply  to  the  pope  in  vindication  of  themselves  and  their 
sovereign.  At  Aberbrothock  or  Arbroath,  on  the  6th  of 
April,  1320,  eight  earls  and  thirty-one  barons  of  Scotland, 
together  with  the  great  officers  of  the  crown,  and  others,  in 
the  name  of  the  whole-community  of  Scotland,  placed  their 
names  and  seals  to  a  spirited  manifesto  or  memorial,  in 
which  strong«sense  and  a  manly  spirit  of  freedom  are  mixed 
with  arguments*  suited  to  the  ignorance  of  the  age. 

This  celebrated  document  commences  with  an  enumera- 
tion of  proofs  of  the  supposed  antiquity  of  the  Scottish  na- 
tion, detailing«its  descent  from  Scota,  daughter  of  Pharaoh, 
king  of  Egypt,  its  conversion  to  the  Christian  faith  by  Saint 
Andrew  the  Apostle,  with  the  long  barbarous  roll  of  baptized 
and  unbaptized  names,  which,  false  and  true,  filled  up  the 
line  of  the  royal  family.  Having  astounded,  as  they  doubt- 
less conceived,  the  pontiff  with  the  nation's  claim  to  an- 
tiquity, of  which  the  Scots  have  been  at  all  times  more  than 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  157 

sufficiently  tenacious,  they  proceeded  in  a  noble  tone  of  inde- 
pendence. The  unjust  interference  of  Edward  I.  with  the 
affairs  of  a  free  people,  and  tiie  calamities  which  his  am- 
bition had  brought  upon  Scotland,  were  forcibly  described, 
and  the  subjection  to  which  his  oppression  had  reduced  the 
country  was  painted  as  a  second  Egyptian  bondage,,  out  of 
which  their  present  sovereign  had  conducted  tnem  victori- 
ously by  his  valor  and  prudence,  like  a  second  Joshua  or 
Maccabeus.  The  crown  they  declared  was  Bruce's  by  right 
of  blood,  by  the  merit  which  deserved  it,  and  the  free  con- 
sent of  the  people  who  bestowed  it.  But  yet  they  added  in 
express  terms,  that  not  even  to  this  beloved  and  honored 
monarch  would  they  continue  their  allegiance,  should  he 
show  an  inclination  to  subject  his  crown  or  his  people  to 
homage  or  dependence  on  England,  but  that  they  would 
in  that  case  do  their  best  to  resist  and  expel  him  from  the 
throne;  "for,"  say  the  words  of  the  letter,  "while  a  hun- 
dred Scots  are  left  to  resist,  they  will  fight  for  the  liberty 
that  is  dearer  to  them  than  life."  They  required  that  the 
pope,  making  no  distinction  of  persons,  like  that  Heaven-of 
which  he  was  the  vicegerent,  would  exhort  the  king  of  Eng- 
land to  remain  content  with  his  fair  dominions,  which  had 
formerly  been  thought  large  enough  to  supply  seven  king- 
doms, and  cease  from  tormenting  and  oppressing  a  poor  peo- 
ple, his  neighbors,  whose  only  desire  was  to  live  free  and 
unoppressed  in  the  remote  region  where  fate  had  assigned 
them  their  habitation.  They  reminded  the  pope  of  his  duty 
to  preserve  a  general  pacification  throughout  Christendom, 
that  all  nations  might  join  in  a  crusade  for  the  recovery  of 
Palestine,  in  which  they  and  their  king  were  eager  to  en- 
gage, but  for  the  impediment  of  the  English  war.  They 
concluded  by  solemnly  declaring,  that  if  his  holiness  should, 
after  this  explanation,  favor  the  English  in  their  schemes  for 
the  oppression  of  Scotland,  at  his  charge  must  lie  all  the  loss 
of  mortal  life  and  immortal  happiness  which  might  be  for- 
feited in  a  war  of  the  most  exterminating  character.  Lastly, 
the  Scottish  prelates  and  barons  declared  their  spiritual 


158  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

obedience  to  the  pope,  and  committed  the  defence  of  their 
cause  to  the  God  of  Truth,  in  the  firm  hope  that  he  would 
endow  them  with  strength  to  defend  their  right,  and  con- 
found the  devices  of  their  enemies. 

The  popish  excommunication  being  thus  set  at  naught 
and  defied  by  the  voice  of  the  people  of  Scotland,  and  the 
nobles  proving  themselves  resolute  in  asserting  the  right  of 
their  monarch  and  the  justice  of  their  cause,  the  pontiff 
showed  himself  more  accessible  to  the  Scottish  ambassa- 
dors, who  were  sent  to  confer  with  him;  and  as  the  king 
of  France  also  offered  his  mediation,  his  holiness  began  to 
make  more  equitable  proposals  for  peace  between  England 
and  Scotland.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  sovereigns 
principally  concerned  were  each  of  them  desirous  to  await 
the  issue  of  certain  dark  and  mysterious  intrigues,  which 
Edward  and  Robert  respectively  knew  to  have  existence  in 
the  court  of  the  enemy. 

And,  first,  for  the  internal  discontents  of  Scotland.  Not- 
withstanding the  great  popularity  of  Bruce,  asiis  evinced  by 
the  letter  of  the  barons  which  we  have  just  analyzed,  there 
had  been  so  many  feuds,  separate  interests,  and  quarrels  pre- 
vious to  his  accession,  and  his  destruction  of  the  power  of  the 
Anglicized  barons  had  given  so  much  offence,  that  we  can- 
not be  surprised  that  there  should  be  some  throughout  the 
nation  who  nourished  sentiments  toward  their  king  very 
different  from  those  of  love  and  veneration,  which  prevailed 
in  the  community  at  large.  These  sentiments  of  envy  and 
ill- will  led  to  a  conspiracy,  in  which  David  de  Brechin,  the 
king's  nephew,  with  five  other  knights  and  three  esquires, 
men  of  rank  and  influence,  were  secretly  combined  to  a 
highly  treasonable  purpose.  They  had  agreed,  it  would 
seem,  to  put  the  king  to  death,  and  place  on  the  throne 
William  de  Soulis,  hereditary  butler  of  Scotland.  This  am- 
bitious knight's  grandfather,  Nicolas  de  Soulis,  had  been  a 
competitor  for  the  crown  as  grandson  of  Marjory,  daughter 
of  Alexander  II.,  and  wife  of  Alan  Dureward;  an  undenia- 
ble claim,  had  his  ancestress  been  legitimate.  Sir  William 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  159 

had  himself  been  lately  employed  as  a  conservator  of  the 
truce  upon  the  borders,  and  it  is  probable  he  had  been  then 
tampered  with  by  the  agents  of  Edward,  and  disposed  to  enter 
into  this  flagitious,  and  it  would  seem  hopeless  conspiracy. 

The  Countess  of  Strathern,  to  whom  the  guilty  secret 
was  intrusted,  betrayed  it  through  fear  or  remorse.  The 
conspirators  were  seized  and  brought  to  trial  before  Parlia- 
ment. Sir  William  de  Soulis  and  the  Countess  of  Strathem 
were  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment.  Sir  David  de 
Brechin,  Sir  William  Malherbe,  Sir  .Tohn  Logie,  and  an 
esquire,  named  Richard  Brown,  were  Cv  .""  ^mned  to  death, 
which  they  accordingly  suffered.  Four  others  of  the  prin- 
cipal conspirators  were  tried  for  their  lives,  and  acquitted. 
Though  the  acquittal  of  these  persons,  and  the  clemency 
extended  to  the  principal  conspirator,  afford  every  reason 
to  believe  that  the  trials  were  equitably  if  not  favorably 
conducted,  yet  so  little  were  men  accustomed  to  consider 
the  meditation  of  a  mere  change  of  government  or  inno- 
vation, in  the  state  as  anything  worthy  of  death,  that  the 
punishment  seems  to  have  been  generally  regarded  as  se- 
vere, and  the  common  people  gave  the  name  of  the  Black 
Parliament  to  that  by  whose  decrees  so  much  noble  blood 
had  been  spilled.  The  age,  however  accustomed  to  slaugh- 
ter in  the  field,  was  less  familiar  with  capital  punishments 
which  followed  on  the  execution  of  the  laws. 

David  de  Brechin's  fate  excited  much  public  sympathy. 
He  was  young,  brave,  connected  with  the  blood  royal,  and 
had  distinguished  himself  by  his  feats  against  the  infidels  hi 
the  Holy  Land.  These  accomplishments  were  to  the  noble 
sufferer  in  those  days  a  general  charm  which  interested  the 
populace  in  his  favor,  and  blinded  them  to  a  sense  of  his 
crime,  as  the  goodly  person  of  the  "proper  young  man" 
who  suffers  for  a  meaner  cause  fascinates  a  modern  group 
of  spectators.  But,  excepting  the  bewitching  attributes  of 
high  birth,  youth,  and  valor,  there  is  little  to  interest  readers 
of  the  present  day  in  the  deserved  fate  of  David  de  Brechin. 
He  had  been  early  attached  to  the  English  cause,  and  had 


160  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

assisted  Comyn,  earl  of  Buchan,  in  his  close  and  vindictive 
pursuit  of  Robert  the  Bruce  through  Aberdeenshire,  in  1308. 
If,  indeed,  he  joined  his  uncle  after  the  battle  of  Old  Mel- 
drum,  as  is  alleged  by  Barbour,  he  must  have  again  aposta- 
tized, for  in  1312  David  de  Brechin  held  an  English  pension, 
and  was  governor  of  Dundee  in  Edward's  service.     He  was 
a  prisoner  of  war  in  Scotland  in  1315;  and  though  he  proba- 
bly afterward  submitted  to  his  uncle's  allegiance,  yet  in  none 
of  those  heroic  exploits  which  render  illustrious  the  warfare 
of  the  subsequent  years  does  the  name  of  David  de  Brechin 
appear.     It  is  probable  that  his  uncle  did  not  trust  him; 
which  may  explain,  but  cannot  excuse,  his  entering  into  an 
enterprise  against  the  life  of  a  near  relative,  the  restorer 
of  his  country's  freedom.     So  it  befell,  however,  that  this 
young  man's  death  was  much  lamented.     Sir  Ingram  de 
Umfraville  gave  upon  the  occasion  an  example  of  what  we 
have  above  stated  concerning  the  light  manner  in  which  the 
chivalry  of  the  period  exchanged  their  allegiance  and  coun- 
try from  one  land  and  sovereign  to  another.     "I  will  not 
remain  in  a  land,"  said  Sir  Ingram,  "in  which  so  noble  a 
knight  is  put  to  a  shameful  and  pitiful  death  for  such  a  slight 
cause."     He  left  Scotland  accordingly,  and  transferred  bis 
services  and  loyalty  to  England,  having  previously  asked 
and  obtained  leave  of  Robert  Bruce  to  dispose  of  his  Scottish 
estates,  which  was  generously  granted  to  him.    It  is  difficult 
to  conceive  how  far  Sir  Ingram  de  Umfraville  conceived  the 
immunities  of  a  noble  knight  to  extend.    This  was  the  fourth 
time  he  himself  had  changed  sides.     He  had  borne  arms 
under  Wallace,  and  under  the  subsequent  Scottish  regency; 
he  had  become  English,  and  was  one  of  the  knights  ap- 
pointed to  keep  King  Edward's  rein  at  the  battle  of  Ban- 
nockburn.      That   victory  reconverted   Sir   Ingram   to  the 
Scottish  allegiance,  which  he  finally  renounced  out  of  pity 
and  tenderness  for  the  fate  of  Sir  David  de  Brechin,  and, 
perhaps,  some  lurking  anxiety  concerning  what  might  be 
ultimately  reserved  for  himself  when  traitors  were  receiving 
payment  at  the  hands  of  the  executioner. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  161 

AB  the  conspiracy  of  Sir  William  de  Soulis  and  his  ac- 
complices was  probably  known  to  Edward  of  England,  so 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Robert  Bruce  was  participant 
of  that  which  Thomas,  earl  of  Lancaster,  was  carrying  on 
against  the  former  monarch  in  1321.  To  this,  perhaps,  it  was 
owing  that  commissioners  appointed  by  both  nations  broke 
up  their  convention  without  being  able  to  settle  the  grounds 
on  which  the  truce  should  be  exchanged , for  a  lasting  peace. 
Edward  endeavored  on  this  occasion  once  more  to  animate 
the  resentment  of  the  pope  against  Scotland ;  but  whether 
the  pontiff  was  moved  by  the  high-spirited  manifesto  of  the 
Scottish  barons,  or  whether  he  deemed  it  inexpedient  to 
bring  his  spiritual  artillery  into  contempt  by  using  it  when 
it  produced  no  effect,  it  is  certain  that  he  adopted  a  more 
impartial  tone  in  the  controversy,  and  more  conciliatory 
toward  the  weaker  kingdom. 

The  history  of  England  must  now  be  referred  to.  The 
chief  vice  in  Edward's  feeble  government  was  a  disposition 
to  favoritism,  with  the  sovereign's  indolence,  love  of  pleas- 
ure, and  negligence  of  public  business.  The  first  troubles 
of  his  reign  had  been  occasioned  by  his  excessive  partiality 
for  a  knight  of  Gascony  named  Piers  Gaveston.  The  power 
of  this  minion  being  destroyed,  and  he  himself  put  to  death, 
by  a  league  of  the  nobility  headed  by  Thomas,  earl  of  Lan- 
caster, for  some  time  the  king  seemed  disposed  to  live  in 
harmony  with  his  subjects.  Edward's  ill  stars,  however, 
led  him  to  find  another  Gaveston  hi  Hugh  Despenser,  who 
engrossed,  like  the  Gascon,  and  like  him  misused,  the  good 
graces  of  his  facile  master.  Sensible  that  he  was  as  much  de- 
tested by  the  nobility  as  ever  Gaveston  had  been,  Despenser 
contrived  to  whet  the  king's  vengeance  against  the  nobles 
by  whom  that  favorite  had  been  put  to  death,  and  especially 
against  Lancaster.  The  earl,  on  the  other  hand,  knowing 
that  he  stood  in  danger  from  the  deadly  hatred  of  his  sover- 
eign, was  led  into  the  unjustifiable  step  of  caballing  with 
strangers  and  enemies  against  his  native  prince,  an  1  con- 
trary to  his  sworn  allegiance. 


162  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

A  treaty  offensive  and  defensive  was  entered  into  between 
the  earl  and  the  Scottish  nobles,  Randolph  and  Douglas,  stip- 
ulating that  the  Scots,  on  the  one  part,  should  invade  Eng- 
land, to  facilitate  the  operations  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster; 
and,  on  the  other  part,  that  the  English,  in  return  for  this 
brotherly  support,  should  use  their  interest  to  obtain  an 
equitable  peace  between  England  and  Scotland.  If  there 
were,  as  seems  probable,  other  stipulations,  they  remained 
secret. 

The  Earl  of  Lancaster  convoked  his  friends,  and  rose  in 
insurrection;  but  his  measures  had  not  been  combined  with 
those  of  the  Scots.  There  appears  to  have  been,  as  is  fre- 
quently the  case,  mutual  jealousy  between  the  native  con- 
spirators and  the  foreign  auxiliaries.  Disconcerted  by 
hearing  that  the  king  was  'on  the  march  toward  them,  the 
insurgents  threw  themselves  into  the  town  of  Pontefract, 
1323.  As  the  Earl  of  Lancaster  endeavored  to  make  his  way 
from  thence  to  his  castle  of  Dunstanborough  in  the  north, 
he  was  attacked  by  Sir  Andrew  Hartcla,  warden  of  the 
western  marches,  and  Sir  Simon  "Ward,  sheriff  of  York- 
shire. The  Earl  of  Lancaster  was  tried  and  beheaded,  and 
afterward  worshipped  as  a  saint,  though  he  had  died  in  an 
act  of  high  treason. 

This  gleam  of  succecs  on  his  arms,  which  had  been  sorely 
tarnished,  seems  to  have  filled  Edward,  who  was  of  a  san- 
guine and  buoyant  temperament,  with  dreams  of  conquest 
over  all  his  enemies.  As  a  king  never  stands  more  securely 
than  on  the  rvins  of  a  discovered  and  suppressed  conspiracy, 
he  wrote  to  the  pope  to  give  himself  no  further  solicitude  to 
procure  a  truce  or  peace  with  the  Scots,  since  he  had  deter- 
mined to  bring  them  to  reason  by  force. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  163 


CHAPTER  XII 

Preparations  of  Edward  to  invade  Scotland — Incursions  of  the  Scots 
into  Lancashire — The  English  enter  Scotland — Robert  Bruce 
lays  waste  the  Country,  and  avoids  Battle — The  English  are 
obliged  to  Retreat — Robert  invades  England  in  turn — Defeats 
the  King  of  England  at  Biland  Abbey — Treason  and  Execution 
of  Sir  Andrew  Hartcla — Truce  for  Thirteen  Years — Randolph's 
Negotiation  with  the  Pope — Settlement  of  the  Crown  of  Scot- 
land— Deposition  of  Edward  II. — Robert  determines  to  break 
the  Truce  under  Charges  of  Infraction  by  England — Edward 
HI.  assembles  his  Army  at  York,  with  a  formidable  Body  of 
Auxiliaries — Douglas  and  Randolph  advance  into  Northumber- 
land at  the  Head  of  a  light-armed  Army — Edward  marches  as 
far  as  the  Tyne  without  being  able  to  find  the  Scots — A  Reward 
published  to  whomsoever  should  bring  Tidings  of  their  Motions 
— It  is  claimed  by  Thomas  of  Rokeby — The  Scots  are  found  in 
an  inaccessible  Position,  and  they  refuse  Battle — The  Scots  shift 
their  Encampment  to  Stanhope  Park — Douglas  attacks  the 
English  by  Night — The  Scots  retreat,  and  the  English  Army  is 
dismissed — The  Scots  suddenly  again  invade  England — A  Pacifi- 
cation takes  place:  its  particular  Articles — Illness  and  Death  of 
Bruce — Thoughts  on  his  Life  and  Character — Effects  produced 
on  the  Character  of  the  Scots  during  his  Reign 

KING  EDWARD  made  extensive   preparations  for  a 
campaign  on  a  great   scale:    he   sent   for   soldiers, 
arms,  and  provisions,  to  Aquitaine  and  the  other 
French  provinces  belonging  to  England,  and  obtained  the 
consent  of  parliament  for  a  large  levy  of  forces,  upon  the 
scale  of  one  man  from  each  village  and  hamlet  in  England, 
with  a  proportional  number  from  market  towns  and  cities. 
Subsidies  were  also  granted  to  a  large  extent,  for  defray- 
ing the   expenses  of    the  expedition.     But  while   Edward 
was  making  preparations,  the  Scots  were  already  in  action. 


164  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Randolph  broke  into  the  west  marches  with  those  troops  to 
whom  the  road  was  become  familiar ;  and  hardly  had  they 
returned,  when  the  king  himself,  at  the  head  of  one  large 
body,  advanced  through  the  western  marches,  into  Lanca- 
shire, wasting  the  country  on  every  side ;  while  Douglas  and 
Randolph,  who  entered  the  borders  more  to  the  east,  joined 
him  with  a  second  division.  They  marched  through  the 
vale  of  Furness,  laying  everything  waste  in  their  passage, 
and  piling  their  wagons  with  the  English  valuables.  They 
returned  into  Scotland  upon  the  24th  July,  after  having 
spent  twenty-four  days  in  this  destructive  raid. 

It  was  August,  1322,  before  King  Edward  moved  north- 
ward, with  a  gallant  army  fit  to  have  disputed  a  second  field 
of  Bannockburn.  But  Bruce  not  being  now  under  an  en- 
gagement to  meet  the  English  in  a  pitched  battle,  the  rep- 
utation of  his  arms  could  suffer  no  dishonor  by  declining 
such  a  risk ;  and  his  sound  views  of  military  policy  recom- 
mended his  evading  battle.  He  carefully  laid  the  whole 
borders  waste  as  far  as  the  Firth  of  Forth,  removing 
the  inhabitants  to  the  mountains,  with  all  their  effects 
of  any  value. 

When  the  English  army  entered,  they  found  a  land  of  des- 
olation, which  famine  seemed  to  guard.  The  king  advanced 
to  Edinburgh  unopposed.  On  their  march  the  soldiers  only 
found  one  lame  bull.  "Is  he  all  that  you  have  got?"  said 
the  Earl  Warrenne  to  the  soldiers  who  brought  in  this  soli- 
tary article  of  plunder.  "By  my  faith,  I  never  saw  dearer 
beef." 

At  Edinburgh  they  learned  that  Bruce  had  assembled 
his  forces  at  Culross,  where  he  lay  watching  the  motions 
of  the  invaders.  The  English  had  expected  their  ships  in 
the  Firth,  and  waited  for  them  three  days.  The  vessels 
were  detained  by  contrary  winds,  the  soldiers  suffered  by 
famine,  and  Edward  was  obliged  to  retreat  without  having 
seen  an  enemy.  They  returned  by  the  convents  of  Dry- 
burgh  and  Melrose,  where  they  slew  such  monks  as  were 
too  infirm  to  escape,  violated  the  sanctuaries,  and  plundered 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  165 

the  consecrated  plate.1  This  argues  a  degree  of  license 
which,  in  an  army,  seldom  fails  to  bring  its  own  punish- 
ment. When  the  English  soldiers,  after  much  want  and 
privation,  regained  their  own  land  of  plenty,  they  indulged 
in  it  so  intemperately  that  sixteen  thousand  died  of  inflam- 
mation of  the  bowels,  and  others  had  their  constitutions 
broken  for  life. 

Robert  Bruce  hastened  to  retaliate  the  invasion  which 
he  had  not  judged  it  prudent  to  meet  and  repel.  He  pushed 
across  the  Tweed  at  the  head  of  his  army,  and  made  an  at- 
tempt upon  Norham  Castle,  in  which  he  failed.  He  learned, 
however,  that  the  king  of  England  was  reposing  and  collect- 
ing forces  at  Biland  Abbey,  near  Malton;  and  as  the  Scots, 
although  they  fought  on  foot,  generally  used  in  their  jour- 
neys small  horses  of  uncommon  strength  and  hardihood, 
Robert,  by  a  forced  march,  suddenly  and  unexpectedly 
placed  himself  in  front  of  the  English  army.  But  they 
were  admirably  drawn  up  on  the  ridge  of  a  hill,  accessible 
only  by  a  single,  narrow  and  difficult  ascent.  Bruce  com- 
manded Douglas  to  storm  the  English  position.  As  he  ad- 
vanced to  the  attack,  he  was  joined  by  Randolph,  who  with 
four  squires  volunteered  to  fight  under  his  command.  Sir 
Thomas  Ughtred  and  Sir  Ralph  Cobham,  who  were  sta- 
tioned in  advance  of  the  English  army  to  defend  the  pass, 
made  a  violent  and  bloody  opposition.  But  Bruce,  as  at 
the  battle  of  Cruachan-Ben,  turned  the  English  position  by 
means  of  a  body  of  Highlanders  accustomed  to  mountain 
warfare,  who  climbed  the  ridge  at  a  distance  from  the  scene 
of  action,  and  attacked  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  English 
position.  King  Edward  with  the  utmost  difficulty  escaped 
to  Bridlington,  leaving  behind  him  his  equipage,  baggage, 
and  treasure.  John  of  Bretagne,  earl  of  Richmond,  and 
Henry  de  Sully,  grand  butler  of  France,  were  made  prison- 


1  The  effect  of  these  ravages  was  repaired  by  the  restoration  of  the 
abbey  church  of  Melrose.  the  beautiful  ruins  of  which  still  show  the 
finest  specimens  of  Gothic  architecture. 


166  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

era.  It  seems  the  earl  had,  upon  some  late  occasion,  spoken 
discourteously  of  Bruce,  who  made  a  distinction  between  him 
and  the  other  French  captives,  ordering  Richmond  into  close 
custody,  and  recognizing  in  the  others  honorable  knights,  who 
sought  adventures  and  battles  from  no  ill-will  to  him,  but 
merely  for  augmentation  of  their  names  in  chivalry.  The 
steward  of  Scotland,  at  the  head  of  five  hundred  Scottish 
men-at-arms,  pursued  the  routed  army  to  the  walls  of  York, 
and,  knight-like  (as  the  phrase  then  was),  abode  there  till 
evening,  to  see  if  any  would  issue  to  fight.  The  Scots  then 
raised  an  immense  booty  in  the  country,  and  once  more  with- 
drew to  their  own  land  loaded  with  spoil. 

The  fidelity  of  Andrew  de  Hartcla,  who  had  rendered 
King  Edward  the  important  service  of  putting  down  the  in- 
surrection of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  had  procured  him  the 
rank  of  Earl  of  Carlisle,  and  many  other  royal  favors.  The 
recollection  of  these  benefits  did  not,  it  would  seem,  prevent 
his  entering  into  a  conspiracy  against  the  prince  by  whom 
they  were  conferred,  of  nearly  the  same  nature  with  that  of 
Lancaster,  in  suppressing  which  he  himself  bore  the  princi- 
pal part.  This  second  plot  was  detected,  and  the  Earl  of 
Carlisle  brought  to  trial.  He  was  charged  with  having  en- 
tered into  a  treasonable  engagement  with  the  Scottish  king, 
undertaking  to  guarantee  him  in  the  possession  of  Scotland. 
In  requital,  Bruce  was  to  render  Hartcla  and  his  associates 
some  aid  in  accomplishing  certain  purposes  in  England,  be- 
ing the  destruction  doubtless  of  the  power  of  the  Despenser. 
The  Earl  of  Carlisle  was  degraded  from  his  honors  of  nobil- 
ity and  chivalry,  and  died  the  death  of  a  traitor  at  Carlisle, 
March  2,  1322. 

The  sense  of  the  difficulties  with  which  he  was  surrounded, 
and  this  new  example  of  the  spirit  of  defection  among  those 
in  whom  he  trusted,  at  length  induced  Edward  to  become 
seriously  desirous  of  a  long  truce,  preparatory  to  a  solid 
peace  with  Scotland.  Henry  de  Sully,  the  French  knight 
made  prisoner  at  Biland  Abbey,  acted  as  mediator,  and  a 
truce  was  agreed  upon  at  a  place  called  Thorpe.  The  raid- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  167 

fication,  dated  at  Berwick,  7th  June,  1323,  was  made  by 
Bruce  in  the  express  and  avowed  character  of  king  of  Scot- 
land, and  was  so  accepted  by  the  English  monarch.  The 
truce  was  concluded  to  endure  for  thirteen  years. 

Bruce  had  now  leisure  to  direct  his  thoughts  toward 
achieving  peace  with  Rome;  for  his  being  in  the  state  of 
excommunication,  though  a  circumstance  little  regarded  in 
his  own  dominions,  must  have  operated  greatly  to  his  dis- 
advantage in  his  intercourse  with  other  states  and  kingdoms 
of  Europe.  The  king  despatched  to  Rome  his  nephew,  the 
celebrated  Randolph,  earl  of  Moray,  who  conducted  the  ne- 
gotiation with  such  tact  and  dexterity  that  he  induced  the 
pope  to  address  a  bull  to  his  royal  relation  under  the  long- 
withheld  title  of  king  of  Scotland.  The  delicacy  of  the  dis- 
cussion was  so  great  that  we  are  surprised  to  find  a  northern 
warrior,  who  scarce  had  breathed  any  air  save  that  of  the 
battlefield,  capable  of  encountering  and  attaining  the  advan- 
tage over  the  subtle  Italian  priest  in  his  own  art  of  diplo- 
macy. But  the  qualities  which  form  a  military  character 
of  the  highest  order  are  the  same  with  those  of  the  consum- 
mate politician.  Shrewdness  to  arrange  plans  of  attack, 
prudence  to  foresee  and  obviate  those  of  his  antagonist, 
perfect  composure  and  acuteneas  in  discerning  and  seizing 
every  opportunity  of  advantage,  hold  an  equal  share  in 
the  composition  of  both.  The  king  of  England  was  ex- 
tremely displeased  with  the  pope,  and  intrigued  so  much 
at  Rome  to  resume  his  influence,  and  use  it  to  the  prejudice 
of  Robert,  that  his  private  machinations  there  were  after- 
ward alleged  by  the  Scots  as  the  cause  of  their  breaking  the 
long  truce  which  had  been  concluded  between  the  countries. 

Randolph's  talents  for  negotiation  were  also  displayed  in 
effecting  a  league  between  Scotland  and  France,  which  the 
circumstances  of  the  times  seemed  strongly  to  recommend, 
and  which  was  entered  into  accordingly.  This  French  alli- 
ance was  productive  of  events  very  prejudicial  to  Scotland 
in  after  ages,  often  involving  the  country  in  war  with  Eng- 
land, when  the  interests  of  the  nation  would  have  strongly 


168  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

recommended  neutrality.  But  these  evil  consequences  were 
not  so  strongly  apparent  as  the  immediate  advantage  of 
securing  the  assistance  and  support  of  a  wealthy  and  pow- 
erful nation,  who  were,  like  themselves,  the  natural  enemies 
of  England.  The  alliance  with  France,  the  consequences  of 
which  penetrate  deep-into  future  Scottish  history,  was  of  an 
offensive  and  defensive  character.  But  its  effects  and  obliga- 
tions on  the  part  of  Scotland  were  declared  to  be  suspended 
till  the  truce  of  Berwick  should  be  ended. 

Scotland  had  now,  what  was  a  novelty  to  her  stormy  his- 
tory, a  continuance  of  some  years  of  peace.  Several  dhanges 
took  place  in  the  royal  family.  The  first  and  happiest  was 
the  birth  of  a  son  to  Bruce,  who  afterward  succeeded  his 
father  by  the  title  of  David  II.  The  joy  of  this  event  was 
allayed  by  the  death  of  the  king's  son-in-law,  the  valiant 
Stewart.  His  wife,  the  Princess  Marjory,  had  died  soon 
after  the  birth  of  her  son  in  1326.  The  Stewart's  behavior 
at  Bannockburn  when  almost  a  boy,  at  the  siege  of  Berwick, 
where  he  defended  the  place  againt  the  whole  force  of  Eng- 
land, at  Biland  Abbey,  and  on  other  occasions,  had  raised 
his  fame  high  among  the  Scottish  champions  of  that  heroic 
period. 

In  consequence  of  these  changes  in  the  family  of  the  king, 
a  parliament  was  held  at  Cambuskenneth,  in  July,  1326,  in 
which  it  is  worthy  of  observation  that  the  representatives  of 
the  royal  boroughs  for  the  first  time  were  admitted ;  a  sure 
sign  of  the  reviving  prosperity  of  the  country,  which  has 
always  kept  pace  with,  or  rather  led  to,  the  increasing  im- 
portance of  the  towns. 

In  this  parliament  the  estates  took  their  oath  of  fealty  to 
the  infant  David,  son  of  Robert  Bruce,  and  failing  him  or 
his  heirs,  to  Robert  Stewart,  son  of  Walter  Stewart,  so  lately 
lost  and  lamented,  and  Marjory,  also  deceased,  the  daughter 
of  Robert  by  his  first  queen.  The  same  parliament  granted 
to  the  Bruce  a  tenth  of  the  rents  of  all  the  lands  of  the  king- 
dom of  Scotland,  to  be  levied  agreeably  to  the  valuation  or 
extent,  as  it  is  termed,  of  Alexander  III. 


HISTOEY    OF    SCOTLAND  169 

In  the  year  1327  a  revolution  took  place  in  the  govern- 
ment of  England,  which  had  a  strong  effect  on  the  relations 
between  that  kingdom  and  Scotland.  The  remains  of  the 
Earl  of  Lancaster's  party  in  the  state  had  now  arranged 
themselves  under  the  ambitious  Queen  Isabella  and  her 
minion  Mortimer,  and  accomplished  the  overthrow  of  Ed- 
ward II.  's  power,  which  the  same  faction  had  in  vain  at- 
tempted under  Lancaster  and  Hartcla.  The  unfortunate 
king,  more  weak  than  wilful,  then  executed  a  compulsory 
resignation  in  favor  of  his  son  Edward  III.,  and,  thus  de- 
throned, was  imprisoned,  and  finally  most  cruelly  murdered. 

It  is  probable  that  Robert  Bruce  was  determined  to  take 
advantage  of  the  confusion  occasioned  by  this  convulsion  in 
England  to  infringe  the  truce  and  renew  the  war,  with  the 
purpose  of  compelling  an  advantageous  peace.  For  this 
he  wanted  not  sufficiently  fair  pretexts,  though  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  he  would  have  made  use  of  them  had  not 
the  opportunity  for  renewing  the  war,  with  a  kingdom  gov- 
erned by  .a  boy  and  divided  by  factions,  seemed  so  particu- 
larly inviting.  His  ostensible  motives,  however,  were,  that, 
although  an  article  of  the  treaty  at  Thorpe,  confirmed  at 
Berwick,  provided  that  the  spiritual  excommunication  pro- 
nounced against  Bruce  should  be  suspended  till  the  termina- 
tion of  the  truce,  yet  Edward,  by  underhand  measures  at 
the  court  of  Rome,  had  endeavored  to  prejudice  the  cause 
of  the  Scottish  king  with  the  pontiff,  and  obstruct,  if  pos- 
sible, the  important  object  of  his  reconciliation  with  Rome. 
It  was  also  alleged  on  the  part  of  Scotland  that  the  English 
cruisers  had  infringed  the  truce  by  interrupting  the  com- 
merce between  Flanders  and  Scotland,  and  particularly  by 
the  capture  of  various  merchant  vessels,  for  which  no  in- 
demnity could  be  obtained. 

The  truth  seems  to  be  that  Robert,  having  these  causes 
or  pretences  for  breaking  off  the  truce,  was  desirous  to  avail 
himself  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  internal  disturb- 
ances of  England  to  bring  matters  to  a  final  issue,  and  either 
to  resume  the  war  at  a  period  which  promised  advantage,  or 
8  -%  VOL.  I. 


170  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

obtain  a  distinct  recognition  of  the  independence  of  Scotland, 
and  an  acknowledgment  of  his  own  title  to  the  crown.  Frois- 
sart  and  other  historians  have  intimated  that  the  Scottish  king 
desired  also  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  obtain  in 
permanent  sovereignty  some  part  of  the  northern  provinces 
of  England.  It  is  highly  probable  such  a  claim  was  stated 
and  founded  upon  the  possession  of  these  counties  by  the 
Scottish  kings  in  David  I.'s  time  and  before  it.  But  it  was 
probably  mentioned  in  the  usual  policy  of  negotiators,  who 
state  their  demands  high  that  there  may  be  room  for  con- 
cession. The  serious  prosecution  of  such  a  design  neither 
accords  with  the  Bruce 's  policy  nor  with  his  actual  conduct. 
He  well  knew  that  Northumberland  and  Cumberland,  over 
which  Scotland  had  once  a  claim,  were  now  become  a  part 
of  England,  and  attached  to  that  country  by  all  the  ties  of 
national  predilection,  and  that  although  a  right  to  them 
might  be  conceded  in  an  hour  of  distress,  it  would  only 
create  a  perpetual  cause  of  war  for  their  recovery,  when 
England  should  regain  its  superiority.  Accordingly,  in  all 
his  inroads,  Bruce  treated  the  border  districts  as  part  of 
England,  to  be  plundered  by  his  flying  armies,  while  he 
never  took  measures  either  to  conciliate  the  inhabitants  or 
secure  and  garrison  any  places  of  strength  for  the  appro- 
priation of  the  country.  The  line  drawn  between  the  Tweed 
and  Solway  afforded  to  Scotland  a  strong  frontier,  which 
any  advance  to  the  southward  must  have  rendered  a  weak 
and  unprotected  one.  Accordingly,  when  triumphant  in  the 
war  which  he  undertook,  the  sagacious  Robert  did  not  make 
any  proposal  for  enlarging  the  territory  of  Scotland,  while 
he  took  every  means  for  insuring  her  independence. 

Negotiations  for  continuing  the  truce,  or  converting  it 
into  a  final  peace,  which  seems  the  point  aimed  at  by  Bruce, 
were  finally  broken  off  between  the  two  kingdoms;  and  Ed- 
ward III.,  already,  though  in  early  youth,  animated  by  the 
martial  spirit  which  no  king  of  England  possessed  more 
strongly,  appointed  his  forces  to  meet  at  Newcastle  before 
the  29th  of  May,  1327,  alleging  that  the  king  of  Scotland 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  171 

had  convoked  his  army  to  assemble  at  that  day  upon  the 
borders,  in  breach  of  the  truce  concluded  at  Thorpe.  The 
rendezvous  took  place,  however,  at  York,  where  a  noble 
army  convened  under  command  of  the  young  king,  the  fut- 
ure hero  of  Crecy,  to  which  magnificent  host  had  been 
added,  at  the  expense  of  a  large  subsidy  five  hundred  men- 
at-arms  from  Hainault,  who  were  then  reckoned  the  best 
soldiers  in  Europe.  With  the  archers  and  light  horse  at- 
tendant on  each  man-at-arms,  the  number  of  these  auxili- 
aries must  be  calculated  as  amounting  to  three  thousand 
men.  But,  as  it  proved,  their  heavy  horses  and  heavy 
armor  rendered  them  ill  qualified  to  act  in  the  swampy, 
wild,  and  mountainous  country  where  the  seat  of  war  was 
destined  to  lie.  An  accidental  quarrel  also  took  place  at 
York  between  these  knightly  strangers  and  the  English 
archers.  Much  blood  was  shed  on  both  sides,  and  a  dis- 
cord created  between  the  foreigners  and  natives  of  Edward's 
army,  which  seems  to  have  caused  embarrassment  during  the 
whole  expedition. 

In  the  meantime  the  Scottish  forces,  to  the  number  of  two 
or  three  thousand  men-at-arms,  well  mounted  and  equipped 
for  a  day  of  battle,  and  a  large  body  of  their  light  cavalry, 
amounting  to  more  than  ten  thousand,  with  many  followers, 
who  marched  on  horseback,  but  fought  on  foot,  invaded  the 
western  border,  according  to  their  custom,  and  penetrating 
through  the  wild  frontier  of  Cumberland,  came  down  upon 
Weardale,  in  the  bishopric  of  Durham,  marking  their  course 
with  more  than  their  usual  ferocity  of  devastation.  These 
forces,  superior  to  all  known  in  Europe  for  irregular  war- 
fare, were  conducted  by  the  wisdom,  experience,  and  enter- 
prising courage  of  the  famed  Randolph  and  the  good  lord 
James  Douglas,  guided,  doubtless,  by  the  anxious  instruc- 
tions of  the  Bruce,  who,  though  only  fifty-three  years  of 
age,  was  affected  by  a  disease  of  the  blood,  then  termed  the 
leprosy,  which  prevented  his  leading  his  armies  hi  person. 

The  king  of  England,  on  the  other  hand,  at  the  head  of 
a  princely  army  of  sixty  thousand  men,  including  five  hun- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

dred  belted  knights,  animated  by  the  presence  of  the  queen- 
mother  and  fifty  ladies  of  the  highest  rank,  who  witnessed 
their  departure,  set  out  from  York,  in  1327,  with  the  deter- 
mination of  chastising  the  invaders  and  destroyers  of  his 
country.  The  high  spirit  of  the  youthful  monarch  was  ani- 
mated, besides,  by  a  defiance  which  Bruce  despatched  to 
him  by  a  herald,  stating  his  determination  to  work  his  pleas- 
ure with  fire  and  sword  on  the  English  frontiers. 

The  English  army  advanced  in  the  most  perfect  order, 
and  reached  Northumberland,  where  the  first  intelligence 
they  received  of  the  enemy  was  by  the  smoke  and  flame  of 
the  villages  suffering  under  presence  of  the  invaders,  tokens 
which  arose  conspicuous  all  around  on  the  verge  of  the  hori- 
zon. The  English  marched  on  these  "melancholy  beacons," 
but  without  reaching  the  authors  of  the  mischief.  During 
the  space  of  three  days,  the  light-armed  and  active  Scots 
made  their  presence  manifest  by  these  marks  of  ravage, 
within  five  miles  of  the  English  army,  but  were  not  other- 
wise to  be  seen  or  brought  to  combat.  After  a  vain  and 
fatiguing  pursuit  which  lasted  three  days,  the  English,  hi 
despair  of  overtaking  their  light-footed  enemy,  at  length  re- 
turned to  the  banks  of  the  Tyne,  determined  to  await  the 
Scots  on  that  river,  and  intercept  their  return  to  Scotland. 
This  resolution  seems  to  have  been  adopted  in  the  vain 
imagination  that  the  Scots,  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
whole  of  an  extensive  waste  frontier,  would  choose  in  leav- 
ing England  to  use  precisely  the  same  road  by  which  they 
had  entered  it.  The  halt  on  the  banks  of  the  Tyne  proved 
as  detrimental  and  embarrassing  to  the  English,  and  espe- 
cially to  the  auxiliaries,  as  the  advance  and  pursuit  had 
been.  Provisions  grew  scarce,  forage  still  scarcer;  the  rain 
poured  down  in  torrents;  the  river  became  swollen:  they 
had  only  wet  wood  to  burn,  and  such  bread  to  eat  as  they 
had  carried  for  several  days  together  at  the  croup  of  their 
saddles,  wetted  and  soiled  by  the  rain  and  the  sweat  of  the 
horses.  They  were  midway  between  Newcastle  and  Car- 
lisle, and  too  distant  to  receive  assistance  from  either  town. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  173 

After  enduring  these  hardships  for  eight  days,  the  soldiers 
became  so  mutinous  that  it  was  resolved  upon,  as  the  lesser 
evil,  again  to  put  them  in  movement,  and  march  in  quest  of 
the  Scottish  army. 

The  march  was  therefore  resumed  in  a  southern  direction, 
still  with  the  hope  to  meet  the  enemy  on  their  return,  and 
land  to  the  amount  of  a  hundred  pounds  a  year,  with  the 
honor  of  knighthood,  was  proclaimed  through  the  host  as 
the  reward  of  any  one  who  should  bring  certain  notice  where 
the  Scottish  army  could  be  found;  an  unparalleled  circum- 
stance in  war,  considering  that  a  king  in  his  own  country, 
and  at  the  head  of  his  own  royal  army,  found  such  a  meas- 
ure necessary  to  procure  information  of  the  position  of  a 
host  of  twenty-five  thousand  men,  who  must  have  been 
within  a  half  circle  of  twenty  miles  drawn  round  the  En- 
glish army.  Many  knights  and  squires  set  off  in  quest  of 
information  that  might  merit  to  secure  the  reward.  Such 
of  the  English  host  as  had  been  transferred  to  the  north 
bank  of  the  Tyne  recrossed  the  river  with  difficulty  and  loss. 

On  the  31st  of  July,  Thomas  de  Rokeby,  a  Yorkshire 
gentleman,  returned  to  claim  the  promised  reward.  His 
acquaintance  with  the  Scottish  position  was  complete:  he 
had  been  made  prisoner,  and  brought  before  the  Scottish 
leaders.  He  told  them  of  the  reward  which  had  been  prom- 
ised, and  the  purpose  of  his  approaching  their  encampment. 
On  this  statement  Douglas  and  Randolph  dismissed  him 
without  ransom,  telling  him  to  inform  the  English  king  they 
knew  as  little  of  his  motions  as  he  did  of  theirs  (an  assertion 
which  may  very  well  be  doubted),  but  would  be  glad  to  meet 
him  in  their  present  position,  which  was  within  six  or  seven 
miles  of  his  own  army.  The  English  arrayed  themselves  for 
battle,  and  advanced  under  the  guidance  of  Rokeby,  now  Sir 
Thomas,  but  were  mortified  to  find  their  enemies  drawn  up 
on  the  crest  of  a  steep  hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  ran  the  river 
Wear,  through  a  rocky  channel,  so  that  an  attack  upon  de- 
termined men  and  veteran  soldiers,  in  such  a  position,  must 
be  attended  with  destruction  to  the  assailants. 


174  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

The  king  sent  a  herald  to  defy  the  Scots  to  a  fair  field 
of  fight,  according  to  the  practice  of  chivalry:  he  offered 
either  to  withdraw  his  own  troops  from  the  northern  bank, 
and  permit  the  Scottish  army  to  come  over  and  form  in  array 
of  battle ;  or,  if  the  enemy  preferred  to  retire  from  the  south- 
ern bank,  and  allow  the  English  to  cross  the  river  unmo- 
lested, he  declared  his  willingness  to  make  the  attack.  But 
Douglas  and  Randolph  knew  too  well  their  own  inferiority 
in  numbers  and  appointments,  and  the  great  advantage  of 
their  present  situation,  to  embrace  either  alternative.  They 
returned  for  answer,  that  they  had  entered  England  without 
the  consent  of  the  king  and  his  barons;  that  they  would 
abide  in  the  realm  as  long  as  they  pleased:  "if  the  king  dis- 
likes our  presence,"  said  they,  "let  him  pass  the  river,  and 
do  his  best  to  chastise  us."  Thus  the  two  armies  continued 
facing  each  other;  the  Scots  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Wear, 
the  English  on  the  north;  the  former  subsisting  on  the  herds 
of  cattle  which  they  drove  in  from  the  country  on  all  hands, 
the  latter  living  poorly  on  such  provisions  as  they  brought 
with  them:  the  former  spending  their  night  round  immense 
fires,  maintained  in  the  greater  profusion  for  the  pleasure 
of  wasting  the  English  wood,  and  lodging  in  huts  and  lodges 
made  of  boughs ;  the  English,  who  were  on  the  depopulated 
and  wasted  side  of  the  river,  sleeping  many  of  them  in  the 
open  air,  with  their  saddles  for  pillows,  and  holding  their 
horses  in  their  hands.  They  were  annoyed  by  the  Scottish 
bordermen  winding  their  horns  all  night,  and  making  a  noise 
as  if,  says  Froissart,  "all  the  devils  of  hell  had  been  there." 
Having  thus  faced  each  other  for  two  or  three  days,  the 
English,  at  dawn  of  the  third  or  fourth  morning,  perceived 
the  Scots'  position  was  deserted  and  empty.  They  had 
decamped  with  much  silence  and  celerity,  and  were  soon 
found  to  have  occupied  a  new  position  on  the  "Wear,  resem- 
bling the  former  in  its  general  description,  but  even  stronger, 
and  masked  by  a  wood,  being  part  of  an  enclosed  chase,  called 
Stanhope  Deer  Park,  the  property  of  the  bishop  of  Durham. 
Here  the  two  hostile  armies  confronted  each  other  as  for- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  175 

merly;  the  English  declining  to  attack  on  account  of  the 
strength  of  the  Scottish  position,  the  Scots  refusing  battle 
with  an  army  superior  to  their  own. 

While  they  had  little  to  do  save  to  remark  each  other's 
equipment,  the  Scots  saw  among  the  English  two  novelties 
in  the  practice  of  war,  which,  though  attended  with  very 
different  consequences,  are  recorded  by  contemporaries  with 
equal  wonder.  The  one  was  a  mode  of  adjusting  the  crest 
upon  the  helmet,  called  timbering;  the  other  was  the  use 
of  a  new  kind  of  artillery,  then  called  engynes,  or,  by  abbre- 
viation, gynes,  or  cracks  of  war,  from  which  we  have  derived 
the  modern  term  guns.  The  effect  produced  by  firearms  in 
their  rude  state  could  not  have  been  formidable,  nor  could 
it  have  been  augured  that  the  invention  would  cause  a  gen- 
eral change  in  the  art  of  war,  since  it  is  merely  noticed  as  a 
novelty,  along  with  a  new  and  fantastic  mode  of  ornament- 
ing the  helmet. 

But  the  English  did  not  remain  long  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Douglas  in  undisturbed  slumbers.  On  the  second 
night  after  their  arrival  in  this  new  position,  that  enterpris- 
ing leader  left  the  Scottish  camp  with  a  select  body  of  men- 
at-arms,  crossed  the  Wear  at  a  distance  from  the  English 
encampment,  and  entered  it,  saying,  as  he  passed  the  sleepy 
sentinels,  in  the  manner  and  with  the  national  exclamation 
of  an  English  officer  making  the  rounds:  "Ha!  Saint 
George!  have  we  no  ward  here?"  He  reached  the  king's 
tent  without  discovery,  cut  asunder  the  ropes,  and  cried  his 
war-cry  of  "Douglas!  Douglas!"  The  young  king  only 
escaped  death  or  captivity  by  the  fidelity'  of  his  chaplain  and 
others  of  his  household,  who  fell  in  his  defence.  Disap- 
pointed in  his  attempt  on  the  king's  person,  which  was  his 
main  object,  Douglas  cut  his  way  through  the  English  host, 
who  were  now  gathering  fast,  broke  from  then:  encamp- 
ment, and  returned  safe  to  the  Scottish  camp  with  fresh 
laurels  in  his  helmet. 

On  the  second  night  after  this  camisado,  the  English 
received  intimation  from  a  Scottish  captive  that  all  the  army 


176  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

were  commanded  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  march 
that  evening,  and  to  follow  the  banner  of  Douglas.  The 
English  conceived  this  to  be  a  preparation  for  a  repetition 
of  the  nocturnal  attack,  and  lay  on  their  arms  all  the  night. 
But  Douglas  was  too  wise  to  trust  to  a  renewal  of  the  same 
stratagem.  In  the  morning  it  was  ascertained  that  the 
Scots,  having  left  great  fires  burning  in  their  camp,  had 
marched  off  about  midnight  by  a  road  which  they  had  cut 
through  a  morass  in  their  rear,  supposed  to  be  impassable. 

The  camp  of  the  Scots,  now  deserted,  furnished  a  curious 
spectacle  to  the  English  and  the  strangers.  Four  hundred 
beeves  lay  slaughtered  for  the  use  of  their  army.  Three 
hundred  caldrons,  formed  extemporaneously  out  of  raw 
hides,  were  filled  with  the  beef  which  the  same  skins  had 
covered  while  the  creatures  were  alive:  hundreds  of  old 
brogues,  made  out  of  the  same  materials,  lay  about  the 
tents.  Five  English  prisoners  were  found  bound  to  trees, 
three  of  whom  had  their  legs  broken,  although  whether  in 
some  previous  action,  or  by  a  gratuitous  piece  of  cruelty 
after  they  were  made  prisoners,  does  not  appear.  The  hardy 
warriors  of  Douglas  and  Randolph  lived  exactly  as  drovers 
and  other  Scots  of  the  lower  order  do  at  the  present  day, 
when  bound  on  long  journeys.  A  bag  of  oatmeal  hung  at 
the  croup  of  the  saddle,  which  also  bore  a  plate  of  iron, 
called  a  girdle,  on  which  the  said  oatmeal  was  baked  into 
cakes  as  occasion  offered:  animal  food  was  furnished  by 
their  plunder  in  an  enemy's  country — in  their  own  they 
subsisted  well  enough  without.  Salt,  liquor  of  any  kind, 
save  water,  as  well  as  any  variety  of  food,  they  entirely 
dispensed  with. 

"Wanting  so  little,  and  carrying  with  them  the  means  of 
satisfying  themselves,  it  was  easy  to  see  why  these  light 
marauders  remained  concealed  from  the  heavy-armed  En- 
glish, distressed  alike  by  their  numerous  wants,  and  the 
apparatus  they  bore  along  to  supply  them,  until  it  was  their 
pleasure  to  become  visible  in  "Weardale,  where  they  remained 
no  longer  than  suited  their  own  inclination.  It  soon  ap- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  177 

peared  that  Douglas  and  Randolph,  having  taken  a  circui- 
tous course  till  they  had  turned  the  flank,  were  already 
advanced  on  their  way  homeward,  to  meet  another  Scottish 
army,  which  had  crossed  the  frontier  to  extricate  them,  if  it 
should  be  necessary. 

The  English  retreated  to  Durham,  dejected  and  distressed, 
especially  the  knights  and  men-at-arms  of  Hainault,  many 
of  whom,  instead  of  the  praise  and  plunder  they  hoped  to 
acquire,  had  lost  their  valuable  horses  and  property.  They 
were  dismissed,  however,  with  thanks  and  reward;  and 
it  is  said  these  troops,  notwithstanding  their  total  ineffi- 
ciency, had  cost  the  kingdom  of  England  a  sum  equal  to 
320,0002.  sterling  of  modern  money. 

King  Edward  III.  next  convoked  a  parliament  at  York, 
in  which  there  appeared  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  England 
to  concede  the  main  points  on  which  proposals  for  peace 
had  hitherto  failed,  by  acknowledging  the  independence  of 
Scotland,  and  the  legitimate  sovereignty  of  Bruce.  These 
dispositions  to  reconciliation  were  much  quickened  by  the 
sudden  apparition  of  King  Robert  himself  on  the  eastern 
frontier,  where  he  besieged  the  castles  of  Norham  and  Aln- 
wick,  while  a  large  division  of  his  army  burned  and  destroyed 
the  open  country,  and  the  king  himself  rode  about  hunting 
from  one  park  to  another,  as  if  on  a  pleasure  party.  The 
parliament  at  York,  although  the  besieged  castles  made 
a  gallant  defence,  agreed  upon  a  truce,  which  it  was  now 
determined  should  be  the  introduction  to  a  lasting  peace. 
As  a  necessary  preliminary,  the  English  statesmen  resolved 
formally  to  execute  a  resignation  of  all  claims  of  dominion 
and  superiority  which  had  been  assumed  over  the  kingdom 
of  Scotland,  and  agreed  that  all  muniments  or  public  instru- 
ments asserting  or  tending  to  support  such  a  claim  should 
be  delivered  up.  This  agreement  was  subscribed  by  the 
king  on  the  4th  of  March,  1328.  Peace  was  afterward  con- 
cluded at  Edinburgh  the  17th  of  March,  1328,  and  ratified 
at  a  parliament  held  at  Northampton,  the  4th  of  May,  1328. 
It  was  confirmed  by  a  match  agreed  upon  between  the  Prin- 


178  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

cess  Joanna,  sister  to  Edward  III.,  and  David,  son  of  Robert 
L,  though  both  were  as  yet  infants.  Articles  of  strict  amity 
were  settled  between  the  nations,  without  prejudice  to  the 
effect  of  the  alliance  between  Scotland  and  France.  Bruce 
renounced  the  privilege  of  assisting  rebels  of  England,  should 
such  arise  in  Ireland,  and  Edward  the  power  of  encouraging 
those  of  the  isles  who  might  rise  against  Scotland.  It  was 
stipulated  that  all  the  charters  and  documents  carried  from 
Scotland  by  Edward  I.  should  be  restored,  and  the  king  of 
England  was  pledged  to  give  his  aid  in  the  court  of  Rome 
toward  the  recall  of  the  excommunication  awarded  against 
King  Robert.  Lastly,  Scotland  was  to  pay  a  sum  of  twenty 
thousand  pounds,  in  consideration  of  these  favorable  terms. 
The  borders  were*  to  be  maintained  in  strict  order  on  both 
sides,  and  the  fatal  coronation-stone  was  to  be  restored  to 
Scotland.  There  was  another  separate  obligation  on  the 
Scottish  side,  which  led  to  most  serious  consequences  in 
the  subsequent  reign.  The  seventh  article  of  the  peace  of 
Northampton  provided  that  certain  English  barons,  Thomas, 
Lord  Wake  of  Lidel,  Henry  de  Beaumont,  earl  of  Buchan, 
and  Henry  de  Percy,  should  be  restored  to  the  lands  and 
heritages  in  Scotland,  whereof  they  had  been  deprived  dur- 
ing the  war  by  the  king  of  Scots  seizing  them  into  his  own 
hand.  The  execution  of  this  article  was  deferred  by  the 
Scottish  king,  who  was  not,  it  may  be  conceived,  very  will- 
ing again  to  introduce  English  nobles  as  landholders  into 
Scotland.  The  English  mob,  on  their  part,  resisted  the 
removal  of  the  fatal  stone  from  Westminster,  where  it  had 
been  deposited;  a  pertinacity  which  "superstitious  eld" 
believed  was  its  own  punishment,  since,  with  slow  but  sure 
attraction,  the  mystic  influence  of  the  magnetic  palladium 
drew  the  Scottish  Solomon,  James  VI.,  to  the  sovereignty 
in  the  kingdom  where  it  was  deposited.  The  deed  called 
Ragman's  Roll,  being  the  list  of  the  barons  and  men  of  note 
who  subscribed  the  submission  to  Edward  I.  in  1296,  was, 
however,  delivered  up  to  the  Scots;  and  a  more  important 
pledge,  the  English  princess  Joanna,  then  only  seven  years 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  179 

old,  was  placed  in  the  custody  of  Bruce,  to  be  united  at  a 
fitting  age  to  her  boy-bridegroom,  David,  who  was  himself 
two  years  younger. 

The  treaty  of  peace  made  at  Northampton  has  been 
termed  dishonorable  to  England,  by  her  historians.  But 
stipulations  that  are  just  and  necessary  in  themselves  can- 
not infer  dishonor,  however  disadvantageous  they  may  be. 
The  treaty  of  Northampton  was  just,  because  the  English 
had  no  title  to  the  superiority  of  Scotland ;  and  it  was  neces- 
sary, because  Edward  III.  had  no  force  to  oppose  the  Scot- 
tish army,  but  was  compelled  to  lie  within  the  fortifications 
of  York,  and  see  the  invaders  destroy  the  country  nearly  to 
the  banks  of  the  Humber.  What  is  alike  demanded  by  jus- 
tice and  policy  it  may  be  mortifying  but  cannot  be  dishonor- 
able to  concede ;  and  before  passing  so  heavy  a  censure  on 
the  Northampton  parliament,  these  learned  writers  ought 
to  have  considered  whether  England  possessed  any  right 
over  Scotland;  and,  secondly,  whether  that  which  they 
claimed  was  an  adequate  motive  for  continuing  an  unsuc- 
cessful war. 

Bruce  seemed  only  to  wait  for  the  final  deliverance  of  his 
country,  to  close  his  heroic  career.  He  had  retired,  prob- 
ably, for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  a  milder  climate,  to  his 
castle  of  Cardross,  on  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  near  Dumbarton. 
Here  he  lived  in  princely  retirement,  and,  entertaining  the 
nobles  with  rude  hospitality,  relieved  by  liberal  doles  of  food 
the  distresses  of  the  poor.  Nautical  affairs  seem  to  hav^e 
engaged  his  attention  very  much,  and  he  built  vessels,  with 
which  he  often  went  on  the  adjacent  firth.  He  practiced 
falconry,  being  unequal  to  sustain  the  fatigue  of  hunting. 
We  may  add,  for  everything  is  interesting  where  Robert 
Bruce  is  the  subject,  that  he  kept  a  lion,  and  a  fool  named 
Patrick,  as  regular  parts  of  his  establishment.  Meantime 
his  disease  (a  species  of  leprosy,  as  we  have  already  said, 
which  had  origin  in  the  hardships  and  privations  which  he 
had  sustained  for  so  many  years)  gained  ground  upon  his 
remaining  strength. 


180  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

When  he  found  his  end  drew  nigh,  that  great  king  sum- 
moned his  barons  and  peers  around  him,  and  affectionately 
recommended  his  son  to  their  care,  then  singling  out  the 
good  Lord  James  of  Douglas,  fondly  entreated  of  him,  as 
his  old  friend  and  companion  in  arms,  to  cause  the  heart  to 
be  taken  from  his  body  after  death,  conjuring  him  to  take 
the  charge  of  transporting  it  to  Palestine  in  redemption  of 
the  vow  which  he  had  made  to  go  in  person  thither,  when 
he  was  disentangled  from  the  cares  brought  on  him  by  the 
English  wars.  "Now  the  hour  is  come,"  he  said,  "I  cannot 
avail  myself  of  the  opportunity,  but  must  send  my  heart 
thither  in  place  of  my  body;  and  a  better  knight  than  you, 
my  dear  and  tried  friend  and  comrade,  to  execute  such  a 
commission,  the  world  holds  not."  All  who  were  present 
wept  bitterly  around  the  bed,  while  the  king,  with  almost 
his  dying  words,  bequeathed  this  melancholy  task  to  his 
best-beloved  follower  and  champion.  On  the  7th  of  June, 
1329,  died  Robert  Bruce,  at  the  almost  premature  age  of 
fifty-five.  He  was  buried  at  Dunfermline,  where  his  tomb 
was  opened  in  our  time,  and  his  relics  again  interred  amid 
all  the  feelings  of  awe  and  admiration  which  such  a  sight 
tended  naturally  to  inspire. 

Remarkable  in  many  things,  there  was  this  almost  pecul- 
iar to  Robert  Bruce,  that  his  life  was  divided  into  three  dis- 
tinct parts,  which  could  scarcely  be  considered  as  belonging 
to  the  same  individual.  His  youth  was  thoughtless,  hasty, 
and  fickle,  and  from  the  moment  he  began  to  appear  in  pub- 
he  life  until  the  slaughter  of  the  Red  Comyn,  and  his  final 
assumption  of  the  crown,  he  appeared  to  have  entertained 
no  certain  purpose  beyond  that  of  shifting  with  the  shifting 
tide,  like  the  other  barons  around  him,  ready,  like  them,  to 
enter  into  hasty  plans  for  the  liberation  of  Scotland  from 
the  English  yoke;  but  equally  prompt  to  submit  to  the  over- 
whelming power  of  Edward.  Again,  in  a  short  but  very 
active  period  of  his  life,  he  displayed  the  utmost  steadiness, 
firmness,  and  constancy,  sustaining,  with  unabated  patience 
and  determination,  the  loss  of  battles,  the  death  of  friends, 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  181 

the  disappointment  of  hopes,  and  an  uninterrupted  series  of 
disasters,  which  scarce  a  ray  of  hope  appeared  to  brighten. 
This  term  of  suffering  extended  from  the  field  of  Methven 
Wood  till  his  return  to  Scotland  from  the  island  of  Rachrin, 
after  which  time  his  career,  whenever  he  was  himself  per- 
sonally engaged,  was  almost  uniformly  successful,  even  till 
he  obtained  the  object  of  his  wishes — the  secure  possession 
of  an  independent  throne. 

When  these  things  are  considered,  we  shall  find  reason 
to  conclude  that  the  misfortunes  of  the  second  or  suffering 
period  of  Bruce's  life  had  taught  him  lessons  of  constancy, 
of  prudence,  and  of  moderation,  which  were  unknown  to  his 
early  years,  and  tamed  the  hot  and  impetuous  fire  which  his 
temper,  like  that  of  his  brother  Edward,  naturally  possessed. 
He  never  permitted  the  injuries  of  Edward  I.  (although 
three  brothers  had  been  cruelly  executed  by  that  monarch's 
orders)  to  provoke  him  to  measures  of  retaliation;  and  his 
generous  conduct  to  the  prisoners  at  Bannockburn,  as  well 
as  elsewhere,  reflected  equal  honor  on  his  sagacity  and  hu- 
manity. His  manly  spirit  of  chivalry  was  best  evinced  by  a 
circumstance  which  happened  in  Ireland,  where,  when  pur- 
sued by  a  superior  force  of  English,  he  halted  and  offered 
battle  at  disadvantage,  rather  than  abandon  a  poor  washer- 
woman, who  had  been  taken  with  the  pains  of  labor,  to  the 
cruelty  of  the  native  Irish. 

Robert  Bruce's  personal  accomplishments  in  war  stood 
so  high,  that  he  was  universally  esteemed  one  of  the  three 
best  knights  of  Europe  during  that  martial  age,  and  gave 
many  proofs  of  personal  prowess.  His  achievements  seem 
amply  to  vindicate  this  high  estimation,  since  the  three 
Highlanders  slain  in  the  retreat  from  Dairy,  and  Sir  Henry 
de  Bohun  killed  by  his  hand  in  front  of  the  English  army, 
evince  the  valorous  knight,  as  the  plans  of  his  campaigns 
exhibit  the  prudent  and  sagacious  leader.  The  Bruce's 
skill  in  the  military  art  was  of  the  highest  order;  and  in 
his  testament,  as  it  is  called,  he  bequeathed  a  legacy  to 
his  countrymen,  which,  had  they  known  how  to  avail 


182  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

themselves  of  it,  would  have  saved  them  the  loss  of  many 
a  bloody  day. 

These  verses  are  thus  given  by  Mr.  Tytler.  I  have,  for 
the  sake  of  rendering  them  intelligible,  adopted  the  plan  of 
modern  spelling,  retaining  the  ancient  language.  The  orig- 
inal verses  are  in  Latin  leonines. 

"On  foot  should  be  all  Scottish  weire,1 
By  hill  and  moss  themselves  to  bear: 
Let  wood  for  walls  be — bow  and  spear 
And  battle-axe  their  fighting  gear: 
That  enemies  do  them  no  drear,* 
In  strait  place  cause  keep  all  store, 
And  burn  the  plain  land  them  before; 
Then  shall  they  pass  away  in  haste, 
When  that  they  nothing  find  but  waste; 
With  wiles  and  wakening  of  the  night, 
And  mickle  noises  made  on  height; 
Then  shall  they  turn  with  great  affray, 
As  they  were  chased  with  sword  away. 
This  is  the  council  and  intent 
Of  good  King  Robert's  testament." 

If,  however,  his  precepts  could  not  save  the  Scottish 
nation  from  military  losses,  his  example  taught  them  to 
support  the  consequences  with  unshaken  constancy.  It  is, 
indeed,  to  the  example  of  this  prince,  and  to  the  events  of 
a  reign  so  dear  to  Scotland,  that  we  can  distinctly  trace  that 
animated  love  of  country  which  has  been  ever  since  so  strong 
a  characteristic  of  North  Britons  that  it  has  been  sometimes 
supposed  to  limit  their  affections  and  services  so  exclusively 
within  the  limits  of  their  countrymen  as  to  render  that  par- 
tiality a  reproach  which,  liberally  exercised,  is  subject  for 
praise.  In  the  day  of  Alexander  III.  and  his  predecessors, 
the  various  tribes  whom  these  kings  commanded  were 
divided  from  each  other  by  language  and  manners :  it  was 
only  by  residing  within  the  same  common  country  that 
they  were  forced  into  some  sort  of  connection:  but  after 
Bruce's  death  we  find  little  more  mention  of  Scots,  Gal- 
wegians,  Picts,  Saxons,  or  Strath-Clyde  Britons.  They  had 
all,  with  the  exception  of  the  Highlanders,  merged  into  the 

1  War.  »  Harm. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  183 

single  denomination  of  Scots,  and  spoke  generally  the  Anglo- 
Scottish  language.  This  great  change  had  been  produced  by 
the  melting  down  of  all  petty  distinctions  and  domestic  dif- 
ferences in  the  crucible  of  necessity.  In  the  wars  with  Eng- 
land all  districts  of  the  country  had  been  equally  oppressed, 
and  almost  all  had  been  equally  distinguished  in  combat- 
ing and  repelling  the  common  enemy.  There  was  scarce  a 
district  of  Scotland  that  had  not  seen  the  Bruce's  banner 
displayed,  and  had  not  sent  forth  brave  men  to  support  it ; 
and  so  extensive  were  the  king's  wanderings,  so  numerous 
his  travels,  so  strongly  were  felt  the  calls  on  which  men 
were  summoned  from  all  quarters  to  support  him,  that  petty 
distinctions  were  abolished;  tnd  the  state,  which,  consisting 
of  a  variety  of  half-independent  tribes,  resembled  an  ill- 
constructed  fagot,  was  now  consolidated  into  one  strong  and 
inseparable  stem,  and  deserved  the  name  of  a  kingdom. 

It  is  true  that  the  great  distinction  between  the  Saxon 
and  Gaelic  races  in  dress,  speech,  and  manner,  still  sepa- 
rated the  Highlander  from  his  lowland  neighbor;  but  even 
this  leading  line  of  separation  was  considerably  softened  and 
broken  in  upon,  during  the  civil  wars  and  the  reign  of  Rob- 
ert Bruce.  The  power  of  the  Macdougals,  who  had  before 
Bruce's  accession  acted  as  independent  chiefs,  making  peace 
and  war  at  their  pleasure,  was  broken  both  in  Galloway  and 
Argyleshire.  The  powerful  Campbell,  of  Norman  descent, 
but  possessed  of  large  Highland  possessions  by  marriage 
with  the  heiress  of  a  Celtic  chief  called  Dermid  O'Duine, 
obtained  great  part  of  their  Argyleshire  possessions,  and 
being  allied  to  the  royal  family,  did  much  to  secure  the 
people  of  that  country  from  relapsing  into  the  barbarous 
independence  of  their  ancestors.  There  were  other  great 
lowland  barons  settled  in  the  Celtic  regions,  of  whom  it 
may  be  briefly  remarked,  that,  like  the  Anglo-Norman 
barons  who  settled  in  Ireland  beyond  the  margin  of  the 
Pale,1  they  speedily  assumed  the  Celtic  manners,  assumed 

1  These  are  said  in  an  act  of  parliament  to  have  become  ipsis  Hibernif 
Hiberniores,  more  Irish  in  their  habits  than  the  Irish  themselves. 


184  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

the  authority  of  mountain-chiefs,  so  flattering  to  human 
pride,  and,  to  conclude,  adopted  the  titles  and  genealogies, 
however  far-fetched,  or  even  if  actually  forged,  by  which 
bards  and  seannachies  connected  their  ancestry  with  the 
names  of  ancient  Celtic  heroes,  whose  descendants  were 
entitled  to  honor  and  obedience.  Yet  still  the  Campbells 
and  other  great  lowland  or  Norman  families  who  were  set- 
tled in  the  Highlands  did  not  dream  of  pursuing  the  wild 
conduct,  or  aiming  at  the  absolute  independence  affected  by 
the  Macdougals  and  other  native  princes  among  the  Gael. 
The  former  owned  the  king's  authority,  and  procured  from 
the  sovereign  delegated  powers  under  which  they  strength- 
ened themselves,  and  governed,  or,  as  it  happened,  oppressed, 
their  neighbors.  Thus  the  Highlands,  though  still  a  most 
disorderly  part  of  Scotland,  acknowledged  in  a  great  degree 
the  authority  of  the  king,  which  they  had  formerly  disputed 
and  contemned. 

But  the  principal  consolidating  effect  of  this  long  strug- 
gle lay  in  the  union  which  it  had  a  tendency  to  accomplish 
between  the  higher  and  inferior  orders.  The  barons  and 
knights  had,  as  we  have  before  remarked,  lost  in  a  great 
measure  the  habit  of  considering  themselves  as  members  of 
any  particular  kingdom,  or  subjects  of  any  particular  king, 
longer  than  while  they  held  fiefs  within  his  jurisdiction.  By 
relinquishing  their  fiefs  they  conceived  they  were  entitled  to 
choose  their  own  master;  and  the  right  which  any  monarch 
possessed  to  claim  their  duty  in  respect  of  the  place  of  their 
birth  did  not,  in  their  opinion,  infer  any  irrefragable  tie  of 
allegiance.  When  they  joined  the  king's  standard  at  the 
head  of  their  vassals,  they  accounted  themselves  the  Norman 
leaders  of  a  race  of  foreigners,  whose  descent  they  despised, 
and  whom,  compared  to  themselves,  they  accounted  barba- 
rians. These  loose  relations  between  the  nobles  and  their 
followers  were  altered  and  drawn  more  tight  when  the  effect 
of  long-continued  war,  repeated  defeats,  undaunted  renewal 
of  efforts,  and  final  attainment  of  success,  bound  such  lead- 
ers as  Douglas,  Randolph,  and  Stewart  to  their  warriors, 


•      HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  185 

and  their  warriors  to  them.  The  faithful  brotherhood  which 
mutual  dangers  and  mutual  conquests  created  between  the 
leader  and  the  followers  on  the  one  hand,  between  the  king 
and  the  barons  on  the  other — the  consciousness  of  a  mutual 
object,  which  overcame  all  other  considerations,  and  caused 
them  to  look  upon  themselves  as  men  united  in  one  common 
interest — taught  them  at  the  same  time  the  universal  duty 
of  all  ranks  to  their  common  country,  and  the  sentiment  so 
spiritedly  expressed  by  the  venerable  biographer  of  Bruce 
himself : 

"Ah,  freedom  is  a  noble  thing; 

Freedom  makes  men  to  have  liking. 

To  man  all  solace  Freedom  gives: 

He  lives  at  ease  who  freely  lives; 

And  he  that  aye  has  lived  free, 

May  not  well  know  the  misery, 

The  wrath,  the  hate,  the  spite,  and  all 

That's  compass'd  in  the  name  of  thrall."1 

1  These  spirited  lines  are  somewhat  modernized. 


186  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Douglas  sets  out  on  his  Pilgrimage  with  the  Bruce's  Heart:  is  killed 
in  Spain — Randolph  assumes  the  Regency — Claims  of  the  dis- 
inherited English  Barons:  they  resolve  to  invade  Scotland,  and 
are  headed  by  Edward  Baliol — Death  of  Randolph — Earl  of  Mar 
chosen  Regent — Battle  of  Dupplin  Moor — Earl  of  March  re- 
treats from  before  Perth — Edward  Baliol  is  chosen  King,  but 
instantly  expelled— Sir  Andrew  Moray  chosen  Regent  by  the 
Royalists,  but  is  made  Prisoner — Siege  of  Berwick  by  the  Eng- 
lish—Battle of  Halidon  Hill— Great  Loss  of  the  Scots— The 
Loyalists  only  hold  four  Castles  in  Scotland — Edward  Baliol 
cedes  to  England  the  southern  Parts  of  Scotland — Quarrel 
among  the  Anglo-Scottish  Barons — Liberation  of  Sir  Andrew 
Moray — Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  and  the  Stewart  are  Regents 
— The  Loyalists  are  active  and  successful — Defence  of  Lochleven 
— Defeat  of  Guy,  Earl  of  Namur,  on  the  Borough  Moor — Earl  of 
Athol  (David  de  Strathbogie)  defeated  and  slain 

THE  parliamentary  settlement  at  Cambuskenneth  had 
nominated  Randolph  as  regent  of  the  kingdom;  a 
choice  which  could  not  have  been  amended:  but 
after-circumstances  occasioned  it  to  be  much  regretted  that, 
by  devolving  on  Douglas  the  perilous  and  distant  expedition 
to  Palestine,  Bruce's  bequest  should  have  deprived  the  coun- 
try of  the  services  of  the  only  noble  who  could  have  replaced 
those  of  the  Earl  of  Moray  in  case  of  death  or  indisposition. 
And  attention  is  so  much  riveted  on  this  most  unhappy  cir- 
cumstance, for  such  it  certainly  proved,  that  authors  have 
endeavored  to  reconcile  it  to  the  sagacity  of  Robert  Bruce, 
by  imputing  it  to  a  refinement  of  policy  on  his  part.  They 
suppose  that,  fearing  jealousy  and  emulation  between  Doug- 
las and  Randolph,  when  he  himself  was  no  longer  on  the 
scene,  he  found  an  honorable  pretext  to  remove  Douglas 
from  Scotland,  that  Randolph,  his  nephew,  might  exercise 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  187 

undisputed  authority.  The  recollection  of  the  field  of  Stir- 
ling, where  Douglas  reined  up  his  horse,  lest  he  should  seem 
to  share  Randolph's  victory  over  Clifford;  that,  too,  of 
Biland  Abbey,  where  Randolph  joined  Douglas  with  only 
four  squires,  and  served  under  him  as  a  volunteer,  seem 
to  give  assurance  that  these  brave  men  were  incapable  of 
any  emulation  dangerous  to  their  country  or  prejudicial  to 
their  loyalty;  and  it  will  be  probably  thought  that  Bruce 
nourished  no  such  apprehensions,  but,  lying  an  excommu- 
nicated man  upon  his  deathbed,  was  induced  to  propitiate 
Heaven  by  some  act  of  devotion  of  unusual  solemnity;  a 
course  so  consistent  with  the  religious  doctrines  universally 
received  at  the  time  that  it  requires  no  further  explanation. 
The  issue  of  the  expedition  was  nevertheless  most  disas- 
trous to  Scotland.  The  good  Lord  James,  having  the  pre- 
cious heart  under  his  charge,  set  out  for  Palestine  with  a 
gallant  retinue,  and  observing  great  state.  He  landed  at 
Seville  in  his  voyage,  and  learning  that  King  Alphonso  was 
at  war  with  the  Moors,  his  zeal  to  encounter  the  infidels  in- 
duced him  to  offer  his  services.  They  were  honorably  and 
thankfully  accepted;  but  having  involved  himself  too  far  in 
pursuit  of  the  retreating  enemy,  Douglas  was  surrounded  by 
numbers  of  the  infidels  when  there  were  not  ten  of  his  own 
suite  left  around  his  person ;  yet  he  might  have  retreated  in 
safety  had  he  not  charged,  with  the  intention  of  rescuing  Sir 
William  Sinclair,  whom  he  saw  borne  down  by  a  multitude. 
But  the  good  knight  failed  in  his  generous  purpose,  and  was 
slain  by  the  superior  number  of  the  Moors.  Scotland  never 
lost  a  better  worthy,  at  a  period  when  his  services  were  more 
needed.  He  united  the  romantic  accomplishments  of  a 
knight  of  chivalry  with  the  more  solid  talents  of  a  great 
military  leader.  The  relics  of  his  train  brought  back  the 
heart  of  the  Bruce  with  the  body  of  his  faithful  follower  to 
their  native  country.  The  heart  of  the  king  was  deposited 
in  Melrose  Abbey,  and  the  corpse  of  Douglas  was  laid  in  the 
tomb  of  his  ancestors,  in  the  church  of  the  same  name.  The 
good  Lord  James  of  Douglas  left  no  legitimate  issue ;  but  a 


188  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

natural  son  of  his,  distinguished  by  the  title  of  the  Knight 
of  Liddisdale,  makes  an  important  figure  in  the  following 
pages,  having  inherited  his  father's  military  talents  and 
courage,  but  unfortunately  without  possessing  his  pure  and 
high-spirited  sentiments  of  chivalrous  loyalty. 

"We  have  dwelt  at  considerable  length  on  the  reign  of 
Robert  Bruce,  so  interesting  from  its  strange  variety  of  inci- 
dent, and  the  important  effects  which  it  produced  upon  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  which  was  in  the  course  of  the  war 
so  much  agitated  in  all  its  provinces,  that,  as  we  before 
observed,  all  the  slighter  distinctions  of  the  lowland  in- 
habitants, so  well  defined  in  the  earlier  times,  were  broken 
down,  dissolved,  and  merged  in  the  grand  national  divis- 
ion of  Britons  into  Scot  and  Englishman. 

Randolph  assumed  the  government  of  Scotland  with  the 
cautious  wisdom  which  might  have  been  expected  from  his 
experience.  He  was  conscious  that  Edward  III.,  though 
prudently  observing  the  treaty  of  Northampton,  felt  its  ar- 
ticles as  a  shameful  dereliction  of  Edward  I.  's  claims,  and 
that  the  people  of  England  regarded  it  as  a  dishonorable 
composition,  patched  up  by  Queen  Isabella  and  her  usurp- 
ing favorite,  Mortimer,  without  regard  to  national  honor, 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  encumbrance  of  the  Scottish  war. 
Randolph  also  knew  that  the  families  of  Comyns,  still  numer- 
ous and  powerful  in  Scotland,  had  not  forgotten  the  death 
of  one  kinsman  at  Dumfries,  and  the  defeat  of  another,  the 
Earl  of  Buchan,  at  Old  Meldrum,  with  the  general  diminu- 
tion of  their  family  consequence.  The  young  king's  corona- 
tion was,  however,  solemnized  at  Scone  (1331),  with  that  of 
his  youthful  consort,  Queen  Joanna,  and  every  precaution  was 
used  to  render  the  government  secure  and  stable.  The  pre- 
cautions were  necessary,  for  a  tempest  was  impending. 

We  have  stated  that  an  article  in  the  treaty  of  Northamp- 
ton stipulated  that  the  Lords  Beaumont  and  Wake  of  Liddel, 
with  Sir  Henry  Percy,  should  be  restored  to  their  estates  in 
Scotland,  which  had  been  declared  forfeited  by  Robert  Bruce. 
Of  the  three,  Percy  alone  had  been  restored.  It  certainly 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  189 

appears  that  Robert  Bruce  had  protracted  the  execution  of 
this  part  of  the  treaty  of  Northampton  with  a  degree  of  de- 
lay, for  which  it  was  easy  to  assign  reasons  in  policy,  though 
it  might  have  been  difficult  to  support  them  in  equity.  Lord 
"Wake  claimed  the  valley  of  Liddel,  which  formed  the  readi- 
est gate  into  the  Scottish  west  borders.  Beaumont,  a  rich 
and  powerful  baron,  claimed  the  earldom  of  Buchan,  a  re- 
mote district,  where  he  might  have  supported  himself  in  a 
species  of  independence,  and  caused  much  trouble  to  the 
Scottish  government.  Both  were  foreigners  and  English- 
men, and  there  was  certainly  risk  in  introducing  them  into 
the  bosom  of  the  kingdom.  But  this,  though  a  reason  for 
not  having  consented  to  the  article,  afforded  no  ground  for 
departing  from  it.  Mortimer's  administration,  who  did  not 
favor  Beaumont,  showed  no  desire  to  press  his  claim  on 
Robert  Bruce.  But  after  Mortimer's  fall,  in  1330,  the  res- 
toration of  Beaumont  and  Wake  was  positively  demanded 
by  the  young  king.  The  Scottish  regent  had  by  this  time 
acquired  information  that  the  English  lords  in  question,  and 
others,  had  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  to  invade  Scotland  and 
dethrone,  if  possible,  his  youthful  ward ;  a  hostile  enterprise 
which  authorized  Randolph  to  refuse  the  restitution  demanded 
at  such  a  conjuncture. 

To  understand  the  nature  of  this  undertaking,  the  reader 
must  be  informed  (and  here  a  remarkable  name  in  Scottish 
history  again  occurs)  that  John  de  Baliol,  for  a  short  time  the 
vassal  king  of  Scotland,  died  in  obscurity  at  his  hereditary 
castle  in  Normandy,  shortly  after  the  decisive  battle  of  Ban- 
nockburn,  leaving  a  son,  Edward.  "With  the  hope  of  intim- 
idating Bruce,  Edward  II.  sent  to  Normandy  for  this  young 
man,  who  then  displayed  a  bold  and  adventurous  character; 
and  the  younger  Baliol  accordingly  appeared  at  the  English 
court  in  1324,  and  again  in  1327,  where,  as  the  person  among 
the  disinherited  who  in  his  father's  deposition  had  suffered  the 
greatest  forfeiture  of  all,  though  not  at  the  hand  of  King 
Robert,  he  naturally  took  a  lead  in  the  undertaking  of  Wake, 
Beaumont,  and  the  other  lords  and  knights,  who,  like  them, 


190  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

desired  restoration  of  Scottish  estates,  though  they  could  not, 
like  them,  plead  the  advantage  of  the  express  clause  in  the 
treaty  of  Northampton.  These  high-spirited  and  adventur- 
ous barons,  assembling  a  small  force  of  three  hundred  horse 
and  a  few  foot-soldiers,  determined  with  such  slender  means 
to  attempt  the  subjugation  of  a  kingdom  which  had  of  late 
repeatedly  defied  the  whole  strength  of  England. 

Edward  III.  temporized.  Under  pretence  of  strictly  ob- 
serving the  truce  between  the  kingdoms,  he  prohibited  the 
disinherited  barons  entering  Scotland  by  the  land  frontier, 
but  connived  at  their  embarking  at  the  obscure  seaport  of 
Ravenshire,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Humber,  and  sailing 
from  thence  in  quest  of  the  adventures  which  fortune  should 
send  them. 

Although  the  attempt  seemed  a  desperate  one,  the  regent 
Randolph  took  even  more  than  necessary  pains  to  prepare 
for  it.  But  the  best  means  of  resistance  lay  in  his  own  high 
talents  and  long  experience,  and  of  the  advantages  of  these 
his  country  was  deprived  in  an  evil  hour.  He  died  at  Mus- 
selburgh,  in  1332,  when  leading  the  Scottish  army  north- 
ward, to  provide  against  the  threatened  descent  of  Baliol 
and  his  followers.  A  demise  so  critical  was  generally 
ascribed  to  poison;  and  a  fugitive  monk  was  pointed  out 
as  the  alleged  perpetrator  of  the  deed. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  sound  governance,  military  talent, 
and  even  common  defence  of  the  Scottish  people,  had  died 
with  Robert  Bruce,  Douglas,  and  Randolph.  The  veteran 
soldiers,  indeed,  survived,  but  without  their  leaders,  and  as 
useless  as  a  blade  deprived  of  its  hilt :  and  the  nobility,  who 
had  universally  submitted  to  the  talents  of  Randolph,  now 
broke  out  into  factious  emulation.  After  much  jealous 
cabal,  Donald,  earl  of  Mar,  a  man  of  very  ordinary  talent, 
although  nephew  to  Robert  Bruce,  was  elevated  to  the  re- 
gency. This  took  place  at  Perth;  and  the  ill-omened  elec- 
tion was  scarce  made,  when  the  Scots  nobles  learned  that 
Baliol  and  the  disinherited  barons  had  entered  the  Firth  of 
Forth  on  July  31,  disembarked  at  Kinghorn,  defeated  the 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  m 

Earl  of  Fife,  and,  marching  across  the  country,  were  en- 
camped near  Forteviot,  with  the  river  Earne  in  their  front. 
Their  host  had  been  joined  by  many  adherents,  but  did  not 
in  all  amount  to  more  than  three  thousand  men.  "With  an 
army  more  than  ten  times  as  numerous,  the  Earl  of  Mar  en- 
camped upon  Dupplin  Moor,  on  the  opposite  or  right  bank 
of  the  river;  while  a  second  army,  composed  of  southern 
barons,  led  by  the  Earl  of  March,  was  arrived  within  eight 
miles  of  the  enemy's  left  flank.  A  more  desperate  situation 
could  scarce  be  conceived  than  that  of  Baliol,  and  he  relieved 
himself  by  a  resolution  which  seemed  to  be  as  desperate.  A 
stake  planted  by  a  secret  adherent  of  the  disinherited  lords 
in  a  ford  of  the  Earne  indicated  a  secure  place  of  crossing. 
The  English  army  passed  the  river  at  midnight,  on  August 
12,  and  in  profound  silence,  and  surprised  the  camp  of  their 
numerous  enemies,  who  were  taken  at  unawares,  dizzy  with 
sleep  and  wassail;  for  they  had  passed  a  night  of  intemper- 
ance, and  totally  neglected  posting  sentinels.  The  English 
made  a  most  piteous  carnage  among  their  unresisting  ene- 
mies. The  young  Earl  of  Moray  showed  the  spirit  of  his 
father,  and  collecting  his  followers,  at  the  head  of  a  daunt- 
less but  small  body,  drove  back  the  enemy.  But  the  inca- 
pacity of  the  Earl  of  Mar,  who  hi  the  doubtful  light  of  the 
dawning  bore  down  in  a  confused  mass  without  rule  or  order, 
overwhelmed  instead  of  supporting  Randolph  and  his  little 
body  of  brave  adherents.  Opposition  ended,  the  rout  be- 
came totally  irretrievable,  and  the  swords  of  the  enemy  were 
blunted  with  slaughter.  The  loss  of  the  Scottish  army, 
much  of  which  was  occasioned  by  their  being  trodden  down 
and  stifled  in  their  own  disordered  ranks,  was  about  thirteen 
thousand  men,  being  more  than  four  times  the  entire  amount 
of  the  army  of  Baliol. 

After  the  battle  of  Dupplin,  the  invaders  took  possession 
of  Perth  without  opposition.  The  fortifications  of  the  place 
having  been  destroyed  by  Bruce,  according  to  his  usual  pol- 
icy, it  was  hastily  protected  with  some  palisades  by  its  new 
masters.  They  were  busied  in  this  task  when  the  southern 


192  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

army,  led  by  the  Earl  of  March,  as  before  mentioned,  was 
seen  approaching  the  place.  The  English  apprehended  an 
instant,  and,  probably,  an  effectual  assault.  But  when 
Beaumont  saw  the  advancing  banners  halt  on  the  high 
ground  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town,  "Have  no  fear  of  these 
men,"  said  the  English  lord;  "we  have  friends  among 
them."  This  was  shortly  after  made  apparent  by  the  re- 
treat of  the  Earl  of  March,  acting,  it  was  supposed,  in  con- 
cert with  the  invader.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made 
on  the  fleet  of  the  disinherited,  which  had  coasted  Fife,  and 
was  lying  in  the  Tay,  by  Crab,  the  Flemish  engineer  who 
defended  Berwick  in  the  former  reign.  He  succeeded  in 
taking  a  fine  vessel,  called  the  Beaumont's  cogue,  but  was 
defeated  in  his  attempt  on  the  others,  and  obliged  to  fly  to 
Berwick. 

The  Earl  of  March  led  back  and  dispersed  his  army,  and 
afterward  showed  his  real  sentiments  by  acceding  once  more 
to  the  English  interest.  It  was  not,  however,  till  the  Scots 
lost  the  battle  of  Halidon  Hill  that  this  powerful  earl  and 
other  barons  on  the  eastern  marches  of  Scotland,  who  had 
late  and  unwillingly  exchanged  their  allegiance  to  England 
for  that  to  the  Bruce,  were,  now  that  the  constraint  imposed 
by  his  authority  was  removed,  desirous  of  returning  to  their 
dependence  on  the  English  crown,  which  they  found,  prob- 
ably, more  nominal  than  that  exacted  by  their  closer  neigh- 
bors, the  Scottish  monarchs. 

The  foreign  invasion  having  thus  succeeded,  though  made 
on  a  scale  wonderfully  hi  contrast  with  the  extent  of  the 
means  prepared,  the  domestic  conspiracy  was  made  mani- 
fest. The  family  of  Comyn  in  all  its  branches,  all  who  re- 
sented the  proceedings  against  David  de  Brechin  and  the 
other  conspirators  condemned  by  the  Black  Parliament ;  all 
who  had  suffered  injury,  or  what  they  termed  such,  in  the 
disturbed  and  violent  times,  when  so  much  evil  was  inflicted 
and  suffered  on  both  sides ;  all,  finally,  who  nourished  ambi- 
tious projects  of  rising  under  the  new  government,  or  had 
incurred  neglect  during  the  old  one,  joined  in  conducting 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  193 

Edward  Baliol  to  Scone,  where  he  was  crowned  king  in  their 
presence,  when  (grief  and  shame  to  tell !)  Sinclair,  prelate  of 
Dunkeld,  whom  the  Bruce,  on  account  of  his  gallantry,  termed 
his  own  bishop,  officiated  at  the  ceremony  of  crowning  a 
usurper,  to  the  prejudice  of  his  heroic  patron's  son. 

However  marvellous  or  mortifying  this  revolution  cer- 
tainly was,  it  was  of  a  nature  far  more  temporary  than  that 
which  was  effected  by  Edward  I.  after  the  battle  of  Fal- 
kirk.  Then  all  seemed  hopeless;  and  if  some  patriots  still 
resisted,  it  was  more  in  desperation  than  hope  of  success. 
Then,  though  there  was  a  desire  to  destroy  the  English 
yoke,  yet  there  was  no  agreement  or  common  purpose  as 
to  the  monarch  or  mode  of  government  to  be  substituted. 
Now  there  was  no  room  for  hesitation.  The  sound  part  of 
the  kingdom,  which  was  by  far  the  larger  portion,  was  fixed 
in  the  unanimous  and  steady  resolution  to  replace  upon  the 
throne  the  race  of  the  deli verer  of  Scotland.  And  the  faith 
of  those  who  adopted  this  generous  resolution,  although  not 
uniformly  unchangeable,  was  yet,  as  already  mentioned, 
constancy  itself,  contrasted  with  the  vacillations  of  former 
times. 

Edward  Baliol,  in  temporary  possession  of  the  Scottish 
crown,  speedily  showed  his  unworthiness  to  wear  it.  He 
hastened  to  the  border,  to  which  Edward  III.  was  now  ad- 
vancing, with  an  army,  to  claim  the  lion's  share  among  the 
disinherited  barons,  to  whom  he  had  afforded  private  counte- 
nance in  their  undertaking,  and  whose  ultimate  success  was 
finally  to  depend  upon  his  aid.  Unwarned  by  his  father's 
evil  fortune,  Edward  Baliol  renewed  in  all  form  the  subju- 
gation of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  took  on  himself  the 
feudal  fetters  which  even  his  father  had  found  it  too  de- 
grading to  endure;  and  became  bound,  under  an  enormous 
penalty,  to  serve  King  Edward  in  his  wars,  he  himself  with 
two  hundred,  and  his  successors  with  one  hundred  men-at- 
arms,  and  to  extend  and  strengthen  the  English  frontiers  by 
the  cession  of  Berwick,  and  lands  to  the  annual  amount  of 
two  thousand  pounds. 

9^  VOL.  (. 


194  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Having  made  this  mean  bargain  with  the  king  of  Eng- 
land, and  thereby,  as  he  thought,  secured  himself  the  power- 
ful assistance  of  that  nation,  Baliol  was  lying  carelessly  en- 
camped at  Annan,  when  he  was  surprised  by  a  body  of 
royalist  horse,  which  had  assembled  at  Moffat,  and  among 
whose  leaders  we  find  a  young  Randolph,  second  son  of  the 
regent,  and  brother  to  him  who  fell  at  Dupplin,  an  Archi- 
bald Douglas,  brother  to  the  good  Lord  James,  a  Simon 
Fraser,  and  others,  whose  names  remind  us  of  the  wars  of 
King  Robert.  Henry  Baliol,  brother  of  the  intrusive  king, 
was  slain  fighting  bravely  in  his  defence ;  many  others  of 
his  followers  were  killed  or  made  prisoners,  and  Edward 
himself  was  fain  to  escape  to  the  English  borders  almost 
naked.  Thus  was  Edward  Baliol  an  exile  and  a  fugitive, 
having  scarcely  possessed  his  usurped  crown  for  three 
months. 

Meantime  the  royalists  had  found  a  trustworthy  leader 
in  Sir  Andrew  Moray  of  Both  well.  In  his  youth  he  had 
been  the  companion  of  Wallace,  and  afterward  the  faithful 
follower  of  Bruce,  who  acknowledged  his  attachment  by 
preferring  him  to  the  hand  of  his  sister  Christina,  a  widow, 
by  the  death  of  the  heroic  Christopher  Seaton.  Sir  Andrew 
Moray  was  a  soldier  of  the  Bruce's  school,  calm,  sagacious, 
and  dauntlessly  brave.  His  first  measure  of  importance  was 
to  remove  the  persons  of  the  young  king  and  queen  to  France, 
where  the  faith  of  Philip  was  engaged  for  their  safety  and 
honorable  maintenance.  His  next  undertaking  was  less  fort- 
unate. He  made  an  attempt  to  take  by  surprise  the  castle 
of  Roxburgh,  into  which  Baliol  had  then  thrown  himself,  and 
imprudently  engaged  his  own  person  in  the  dangerous  enter- 
prise. Seeing  a  valiant  esquire  in  his  service,  named  Ralph 
Golding,  endangered  during  the  assault  by  a  superior  num- 
ber of  English,  Sir  Andrew  pressed  forward  to  his  rescue, 
and  was  made  prisoner,  to  the  infinite  prejudice  of  the  royal 
cause ;  his  place  being  poorly  supplied  by  Archibald  Douglas, 
although  a  brave  soldier,  and  brother  to  the  good  Lord  James. 
It  was  a  great  additional  misfortune  that,  a  short  time  after, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  195 

in  a  severe  battle  which  was  fought  on  the  borders,  the  knight 
of  Liddisdale  (Sir  William  Douglas,  natural  son  of  the  good 
Lord  James)  was  defeated  in  a  considerable  action,  and  made 
prisoner.  He  was  treated  with  great  rigor,  and  detained 
captive  for  two  years.  Thus  was  Scotland  deprived,  in 
her  hour  of  utmost  need,  of  two  more  of  her  choicest 
soldiers. 

Edward  III.  now  prepared  to  assist  his  vassal  Baliol, 
and,  assembling  a  large  army,  May,  1333,  came  before  Ber- 
wick, the  securing  of  which  place  the  Scots  deemed  justly 
an  object  of  primary  consequence,  since  Baliol  had  consented 
to  surrender  it  to  England.  The  Earl  of  March,  whose 
apostasy  was  not  yet  suspected,  was  governor  of  the  Castle 
of  Berwick,  and  Sir  Alexander  Seaton  of  the  town.  They 
defended  the  place  strenuously,  and  burned  a  large  vessel 
with  which  the  English  assaulted  the  walls  from  the  sea. 
But  the  garrison  were  reduced  to  such  distress  that  they 
were  compelled,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time,  to 
agree  to  surrender,  if  not  relieved  by  a  certain  day,  and 
hostages  were  delivered  to  that  effect,  the  son  of  Seaton, 
the  governor,  being  one.  Before  the  time  appointed,  the 
numerous  army  of  Scotland  appeared  in  sight  of  Berwick, 
and  succeeded  in  throwing  some  knights  and  soldiers  into 
the  place.  One  of  the  former,  Sir  William  Keith,  assumed 
the  command  of  the  town. 

But  the  caution  of  the  English,  who  kept  within  their 
trenches  and  refused  a  general  action,  prevented  the  relief 
from  accomplishing  the  raising  of  the  siege.  In  order  to 
effect  this  object,  Douglas,  imitating  the  policy  of  the  Bruce 
in  the  like  circumstances,  entered  Northumberland,  and 
committed  ravages,  threatening  to  attack  the  castle  of 
Bamborough,  where  the  young  English  queen,  Philippa, 
was  at  that  time  residing.  But  the  strength  of  Bamborough 
defied  a  siege,  and  the  regent  presently  received  tidings  from 
Berwick,  announcing  that,  the  place  being  reduced  to  ex- 
tremity, King  Edward  had  summoned  the  garrison  to  sur- 
render, upon  the  treaty  formerly  entered  into.  They  refused, 


196  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

alleging  that  they  had  received  relief  and  reinforcements. 
The  English  king  insisted  that  the  succors  thrown  in  not 
being  sufficiently  effectual  to  raise  the  siege,  they  were  bound 
to  yield  up  the  place,  just  as  much  as  if  they  had  not  been 
relieved  at  all;  and  he  summoned  them  to  absolute  sur- 
render, on  the  pain  of  putting  to  death  the  hostages.  The 
Scotch  historians  say,  that  Edward  actually  did  put  young 
Seaton  to  death,  within  such  short  distance  that  his  father 
might  see  the  execution  from  the  walls.  But  there  is  some 
obscurity  resting  on  this  cruel  anecdote.  Certain  it  is,  that 
the  citizens  of  Berwick,  anxious  for  the  fate  of  their  own 
children,  who  were  also  among  the  number  of  hostages, 
became  desirous  to  surrender,  and  refused  any  longer  to 
defend  the  place.  A  second  negotiation  was  entered  into, 
whereby  it  was  agreed  that  Berwick  should  be  uncondition- 
ally surrendered,  unless  the  Scots  could  succeed  in  reinforc- 
ing the  town  wifch  two  hundred  men-at-arms,  or  defeating 
the  English  in  a  pitched  battle  under  its  walls. 

Forgetting  or  disregarding  the  earnest  admonition  of 
King  Robert,  the  regent  Douglas  resolved,  on  June  19,  to 
commit  the  fate  of  the  country  to  the  risk  of  a  decisive  con- 
flict. On  crossing  the  Tweed  and  approaching  Berwick 
on  the  northern  side,  the  Scottish  regent  became  aware  of 
the  army  of  England  drawn  up  in  four  great  battalions, 
with  numerous  bodies  of  archers  to  flank  them.  The  ground 
which  they  occupied  was  the  crest  of  an  eminence  called 
Halidon  Hill.  The  Scots  stationed  themselves  on  the  op- 
posite ridge  of  high  ground:  the  bottom  which  divided  the 
hills  was  a  morass.  On  the  morning  of  the  20th,  the  Scots, 
with  inconsiderate  impetuosity,  advanced  to  the  onset.  By 
doing  so  they  exposed  their  whole  army,  while  descending 
the  hiU  and  crossing  the  morass,  to  the  constant  and  formid- 
able discharge  of  the  English  archers,  against  whom  they 
had  no  similar  force  to  oppose.  The  inevitable  consequence 
was,  that  they  lost  their  ranks,  and  became  embarrassed 
in  the  morass,  where  many  were  slain.  But  the  nobles,  who 
fought  on  foot  in  complete  armor  at  the  head  of  their  follow- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  197 

ere,  made  a  desperate  effort  to  lead  a  great  part  of  the  army 
through  the  bog,  and  ascended  the  opposite  hill.  They  came 
to  close  battle  with  the  English,  who,  calm  and  in  perfect 
order,  were  not  long  in  repulsing  an  attack  made  by  disor- 
dered ranks  and  breathless  soldiers.  The  Scottish,  after  find- 
ing their  efforts  vain,  endeavored  to  retreat.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  pages  and  camp  followers,  who  held  the  horses 
of  the  combatants,  seeing  the  battle  lost,  began  to  fly,  and 
carry  off  the  horses  along  with  them,  without  respect  to  the 
safety  of  their  masters ;  so  that  the  carnage  in  this  bloody 
battle  was  very  great,  and  numbers  of  the  gentry  and  no- 
bility fell. 

The  venerable  Earl  of  Lennox,  the  faithful  companion 
of  Robert  Bruce,  the  Earls  of  Ross,  Carrick,  Sutherland, 
Monteith,  and  Athol,  were  all  slain,  together  with  knights 
and  barons  to  a  countless  number,  and  all  with  a  trifling 
loss  on  the  part  of  the  English.  The  regent,  Douglas  him- 
self, wounded  and  made  prisoner,  died  soon  after  he  was 
taken.  Berwick  surrendered  in  consequence  of  this  decis- 
ive action,  and  the  Earl  of  March,  governor  of  the  castle, 
returned  openly  to  the  English  interest,  and  was  admitted 
to  Edward's  favor  and  confidence. 

The  Scots  had  suffered  a  loss  in  this  action  which  was 
deemed  by  the  English  totally  irrecoverable.  "The  Scottish 
wars  are  ended,"  said  the  public  voice,  "since  no  one  of 
that  nation  remains  having  interest  enough  to  raise  an  army, 
or  skill  sufficient  to  command  one." 

Through  all  Scotland,  so  lately  the  undisputed  dominion 
of  the  Bruce,  only  four  castles  and  a  strong  tower  which  did 
not  reach  to  the  importance  of  such  a  title,  remained  in  pos- 
session of  the  royalists  who  adhered  to  his  unfortunate  son. 
These  were,  the  impregnable  fortresses  of  Dunbarton,  which 
was  secured  by  Malcolm  Fleming ;  Lochleven,  on  an  island 
in  the  lake  of  that  name,  defended  by  Alan  de  Vipont; 
Urquhart  in  Inverness,  commanded  by  Thomas  Lander; 
and  Kildrummie,  by  Christina,  the  sister  of  King  Robert 
Bruce,  successively  the  widow  of  the  Earl  of  Mar  and  of 


198  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Christopher  Seaton,  and  now  the  wife  of  the  imprisoned  Sir 
Andrew  Moray.  The  fifth  stronghold  was  at  Lochdown,  in 
Carrick,  which  John  Thomson,  a  man  of  obscure  birth  and 
dauntless  valor,  the  same  apparently  who  led  back  from 
Ireland  the  shattered  remainder  of  Edward  Brace's  army, 
held  out  for  his  rightful  sovereign. 

Amid  this  scene  of  apparent  submission,  Edward  Baliol 
held  a  mock  parliament  at  Edinburgh  for  the  gratification 
of  his  ally,  the  king  of  England.  The  obligation  of  homage 
and  feudal  service  to  the  king  of  England  was  undertaken 
by  Edward  Baliol  in  the  fullest  extent;  the  town  of  Berwick 
was  given  up;  and  as  King  Edward  was  desirous  to  hold 
a  large  portion  of  Scotland  under  his  immediate  and  direct 
authority,  Baliol,  by  a  solemn  instrument,  made  an  absolute 
surrender  to  England  of  the  frontier  provinces  of  Berwick- 
shire, Roxburghshire,  Selkirkshire,  Peebleshire,  and  Dum- 
friesshire, together  with  Lothian  itself,  in  all  its  three  divis- 
ions; thus  yielding  up  the  whole  land  between  the  northern 
and  southern  Roman  rampart,  and  restricting  Scotland  to 
the  possessions  beyond  the  estuaries  of  Forth  and  Clyde, 
inhabited  of  old  by  the  free  Caledonians.  For  the  remnants 
of  the  kingdom,  thus  mutilated  and  dismembered,  Baliol 
paid  homage.  At  the  same  parliament,  Baliol,  by  ample 
cessions  and  distributions  of  territory,  gratified  the  dis- 
inherited lords,  to  whose  valor  he  owed  his  extraordinary 
success. 

A  quarrel  arose  among  these  proud  barons  which  had 
important  consequences.  The  brother  of  Alexander  de  Mow- 
bray  died  leaving  daughters,  but  no  male  issue.  Baliol  pre- 
ferred the  brother  of  the  deceased  to  his  fiefs,  as  the  heir 
male.  Henry  de  Beaumont  and  David  Hastings  de  Strath- 
bogie,  earls  of  Buchan  and  Athol,  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
female  heirs;  and  as  Baliol  would  not  listen  to  them,  they 
left  the  court  in  that  state  of  irritation  which  is  easily  ex- 
cited between  such  powerful  subjects  and  a  king  of  their 
own  making.  Alarmed  at  their  defection,  Baliol  altered  his 
decision,  dismissed  Alexander  de  Mowbray's  claim,  and 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  199 

thereby  made  him  his  mortal  enemy,  while  he  obtained 
only  a  dubious  reconciliation  with  his  opponents. 

About  this  time  Sir  Andrew  Moray  of  Both  well,  made 
prisoner,  as  we  have  seen,  at  Roxburgh,-  escaped  or  was 
liberated  from  prison ;  and  his  appearance  in  Scotland,  witli 
the  discord  among  the  English  barons,  was  a  signal  for  a 
general  insurrection  of  the  royalists.  Moray  was  joined 
by  the  discontented  Mowbray.  Richard  Talbot,  marching 
southward,  was  attacked  and  defeated  by  William  Keith 
of  Galston,  who  had  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of 
Berwick.  Sir  Andrew  Moray,  with  his  new  ally,  Mowbray, 
besieged  the  powerful  Henry  de  Beaumont  in  his  fortress 
of  Dundearg  in  Buchan,  and  by  cutting  off  the  supplies  of 
water  compelled  him  to  surrender,  and  put  him  to  a  great 
ransom.  The  impulse  became  general  through  Scotland. 
The  Brandanes  or  men  of  Bute  arose  against  the  English 
captain,  slew  him,  and  sent  his  head  to  their  master,  the 
steward  of  Scotland.  In  Annandale  and  in  Ayrshire,  where 
Bruce  had  his  family  estates,  the  royalists  gathered  on  every 
side.  The  steward  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  bravery 
and  generosity  of  disposition.  By  universal  approbation  of 
the  royalists,  this  gallant  and  amiable  young  man  was  asso- 
ciated in  the  regency.  The  young  Earl  of  Moray,  son  of 
the  heroic  Randolph,  was  returned  from  France,  whither 
he  had  fled  after  the  battle  of  Halidon  Hill,  and  pushed  David 
Hastings  of  Strathbogie  so  hard,  that  he  not  only  compelled 
him  to  surrender,  but  found  means  to  induce  him  to  join  the 
conqueror.  Baliol,  having  seen  the  defeat  of  Talbot,  the  cap- 
tivity of  Beaumont,  and  the  defection  of  the  three  most 
powerful  of  the  disinherited,  lost  courage,  and  fled  into 
England,  thereby  showing  plainly  how  slight  was  his  reli- 
ance on  any  support  save  such  as  came  from  that  kingdom, 
and  how  steadily  the  great  bulk  of  the  Scottish  nation  were 
attached  to  the  legitimate  heir  of  Bruce. 

In  November,  1334,  Edward  III.  advanced  into  Scotland 
for  the  double  purpose  of  sustaining  his  vassal,  and  of  secur- 
ing those  southern  parts  of  Scotland  which  were  ceded  to 


200  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

him  in  property  and  full  dominion.  He  met  no  opposition, 
for  the  Scots  brought  no  army  to  the  field;  but  he  was 
assailed  by  want,  and  the  stormy  weather  incident  to  the 
season;  and  so  little  was  Edward's  reputation  raised  by  this 
incursion,  that  the  Earl  of  March,  a  nobleman  uniformly 
guided  by  his  own  interest,  chose  that  very  crisis  to  renounce 
the  allegiance  of  England.  This  time-serving  baron  prob- 
ably foresaw  the  danger  of  his  own  power,  since  it  was  not 
likely  that  Edward  would  permit  him  to  hold  influence  in  a 
country  which  he  was  desirous  in  future  of  annexing  to  Eng- 
land, although  he  had  little  cared  how  loose  the  earl's 
uncontrolled  allegiance  sat  on  him  while  he  was  a  vassal  of 
Scotland. 

Alan  de  Vipont,  a  Scottish  royalist,  who  defended  Loch- 
leven  Castle  against  the  English,  is  said  about  this  time  to 
have  been  pressed  hard  by  a  John  de  Stirling,  a  Scottishman 
apparently,  but  commanding  an  army  for  Baliol :  the  gar- 
rison was  straitened  by  a  fort  in  the  churchyard  at  Kinross; 
and  it  is  alleged  by  an  embankment  drawn  across  the  source 
of  the  river  Leven,  where  it  issues  from  the  lake,  the  pur- 
pose of  which  was,  to  lay  under  water  the  island  and  castle, 
and  thereby  to  make  surrender  inevitable.  But  Vipont  took 
the  opportunity  of  a  cloudy  night  to  send  a  boat  unperceived 
down  the  lake,  and  cut  through  the  embankment.  The 
accumulated  waters  broke  down  hi  a  furious  inundation, 
which  swept  away  the  mound,  and  along  with  it  the  enemies 
who  were  quartered  there  for  its  defence.  There  are  cer- 
tainly some  vestiges,  at  the  exit  of  the  Leven  from  the  lake, 
which  seem  to  confirm  this  singular  tradition.  Some  his- 
torians only  mention  the  destruction  of  the  English  fort  by 
a  sally  from  the  garrison,  without  speaking  of  the  embank- 
ment or  inundation. 

The  chiefs  of  the  loyal  Scots  now  assembled  a  parliament 
at  Dairsie,  in  Fife,  April,  1335,  in  order  to  settle  upon  a 
combined  plan  of  operations  for  the  liberation  of  the  country. 
But  their  counsels  came  to  no  useful  or  steady  result,  chiefly 
owing  to  the  presumption  of  David  de  Strathbogie,  earl  of 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  201 

Athol,  who  assumed  a  species  of  superiority  which  the  Scot- 
tish nobles  could  not  endure.  The  parliament  broke  up  in 
great  disorder.  It  may  be  that  this  discord  was  attended 
with  some  consequences  indirectly  advantageous  to  Scot- 
land. As  the  parliament  could  not  agree  upon  raising  a 
large  army,  they  could  not  commit  the  imprudence  of  risking 
a  general  action. 

In  the  summer  succeeding,  on  July  1,  1335,  Edward 
again  invaded  Scotland  on  the  east  marches;  while  Baliol, 
with  a  body  of  Welsh  troops  and  foreigners,  entered  on  the 
west.  They  laid  waste  the  country  with  fire  and  sword  with 
emulous  severity.  The  Scots  kept  King  Robert's  testament 
in  recollection ;  and  lurking  among  the  woods  and  valleys, 
they  fell  by  surprise  upon  such  English  as  separated  them- 
selves from  the  main  body,  or  straggled  from  the  march  in 
their  thirst  for  plunder. 

In  the  end  of  July,  a  large  body  of  Flemish  men-at-arms 
landed  at  Berwick,  in  the  capacity  of  auxiliaries  to  England. 
These  strangers,  commanded  by  Guy,  count  of  Namur,  con- 
ceiving the  country  entirely  undefended,  advanced  fearlessly 
to  Edinburgh,  at  that  time  an  open  town,  the  castle  having 
been  demolished.  Count  Guy  had  scarce  arrived  there, 
when  an  army  of  Scottish  royalists,  commanded  by  the 
Earls  of  Moray  and  March  and  Sir  Alexander  Ramsay,  at- 
tacked him.  The  battle  took  place  on  the  Borough  Moor, 
and  was  fiercely  disputed  for  some  time ;  till  the  Knight  of 
Liddisdale,  who  had  escaped  or  been  released  from  his  En- 
glish captivity,  swept  down  from  the  Pentland  Hills,  and 
turned  the  scale  of  battle.  The  Flemings  retired  into  the 
city,  and  fought  their  way  as  they  retreated  up  to  the  hill 
where  the  castle  lay  in  ruins.  A  close  encounter  took  place 
during  the  whole  way,  and  tradition  long  pointed  out  the 
spot  at  the  foot  of  the  Bow,  where  David  de  Annand,  a 
Scottish  knight  of  superhuman  strength,  struck  down  with 
his  battle-axe  one  of  these  mailed  foreigners,  killing  horse 
and  man,  and  shattering  a  huge  flagstone  in  the  pavement, 
by  a  single  blow.  The  Flemings  erected  a  breastwork  or 


202  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

fortification  on  the  Castle  Hill  by  killing  their  horses,  and 
making  a  barricade  of  the  carcasses.  This,  however,  could 
be  but  a  temporary  resource,  and  they  were  speedily  obliged 
to  capitulate.  The  Scots  treated  their  valiant  prisoners  with 
much  courtesy,  releasing  them  on  their  parole  not  to  fight 
against  David,  and  sending  an  escort  to  see  the  foreigners 
safe  into  England.  Unhappily,  the  regent  Earl  of  Moray 
went  himself  with  the  party,  and  on  his  return  toward 
Lothian,  after  dismissing  the  Flemings,  was  attacked  by 
"William  de  Pressen,  commander  of  the  English  garrison 
of  Jedburgh  Castle,  his  followers  routed,  and  himself  made 
prisoner,  and  thrown  into  Bamborough  Castle.  Thus  the 
services  of  the  worthy  successor  of  Randolph  were,  for  a 
time,  lost  to  his  country.  The  English  continued  their  rav- 
ages, and  with  such  success  that  men  were  reduced  to  use 
that  sort  of  lip-homage  which  the  heart  refuses.  "If  you 
asked  a  grown-up  person,"  says  an  old  historian,  "who  was 
his  king,  he  dared  to  make  no  other  answer  save  by  naming 
Edward  Baliol ;  while  the  undissembling  frankness  of  child- 
hood answered  the  same  question  with  the  name  of  David 
Bruce." 

Scotland  being  in  this  low  condition,  and  Edward  having 
exercised  such  means  of  subduing  the  spirit  of  insurrection 
as  could  be  brought  against  a  disposition  which  showed 
itself  everywhere,  but  was  tangible  nowhere,  the  English 
king  began  to  think  of  returning  to  his  own  kingdom.  But 
previously  he  received  the  submission  of  the  versatile  Earl 
of  Athol,  restored  to  that  powerful  nobleman  his  large  En- 
glish estates,  and  named  him  regent  or  governor  of  Scotland 
tinder  Baliol.  The  steward,  over  whom  this  David  de 
Strathbogie  seems  to  have  possessed  but  too  much  influ- 
ence, was  also  induced,  contrary  to  his  interests,  as  nearly 
concerned  in  the  succession,  to  acknowledge  Baliol  as  his 
sovereign.  After  fortifying  Perth,  and  rebuilding  the  cas- 
tles of  Edinburgh  and  Stirling,  Edward  III.  returned  to  his 
own  dominions. 

The  irresistible  pressure  of  immediate  superiority  of  force 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  203 

being  once  more  removed,  the  spirit  of  determined  resistance 
began  again  to  manifest  itself.  The  Scottish  loyalists  once 
more  chose  for  their  head  Sir  Andrew  Moray  of  Bothwell, 
the  friend  of  Wallace,  the  brother-in-law  of  Bruce.  Athol, 
eager  to  give  himself  consequence  in  the  eyes  of  Edward 
and  obliterate  the  recollection  of  his  prior  tergiversations, 
had  determined  to  besiege  the  castle  of  Kildrummie  hi 
Aberdeenshire,  the  residence  of  Christina,  the  sister  of  Rob- 
ert Bruce,  and  wife  of  Sir  Andrew  Moray.  Moray,  joined 
by  the  Earl  of  March  and  the  Knight  of  Liddisdale,  flew 
to  the  relief  of  the  place.  They  assembled  about  fifteen 
hundred  followers,  partly  men  of  Lothian  and  Berwickshire, 
partly  from  the  territory  of  Kildrummie.  They  came  sud- 
denly on  the  Earl  of  Athol,  then  lying  in  the  forest  of  Kil- 
blain,  whose  troops,  suddenly  and  fiercely  attacked  in  a 
species  of  pass,  gave  way  on  all  sides.  The  Earl  of  Athol 
was  steady  in  personal  courage,  though  fickle  in  political 
attachment :  he  looked  round  with  scorn  on  his  fugitive  fol- 
lowers, and  striking  his  hand  on  a  huge  rock  which  lay  near 
him,  said,  "Thou  and  I  will  this  day  fly  together."  Five 
knights  of  his  household  abode,  fought,  and  fell  with  him, 
refusing  all  quarter.  The  death  of  the  Earl  of  Athol  was 
considered  by  the  loyalists  as  a  most  favorable  event,  as  his 
power,  and  latterly  his  inclination  also,  made  him  a  sworn 
persecutor  of  their  party. 

Edward  himself  advanced  to  avenge  the  death  of  a  pow- 
erful, if  not  a  steady,  partisan.  He  led  into  Scotland  a 
numerous  army,  which  wasted  the  country  as  far  north  as 
Inverness.  But  though  he  was  an  enemy  skilful  to  omit 
no  advantage  which  accident,  the  situation  of  ground,  or 
the  circumstances  of  weather  afford,  yet,  in  the  far-sighted 
prudence  of  the  experienced  Sir  Andrew  Moray,  Edward  III. 
found  a  complete  match  for  his  youthful  ardor,  and  was  no 
more  able  to  bring  his  sagacious  opponent  to  action  than  he 
had  been  to  engage  Douglas  and  Randolph  in  the  Northum- 
brian campaign  of  1327.  The  following  instance  of  Moray's 
skill,  courage,  and  discipline,  may  give  some  idea  of  the  com- 


204  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

posure  with  which  he  baffled  the  ardent  valor  of  the  hero  of 
Crecy. 

When  at  Perth,  Edward  was  informed  that  the  Scottish 
regent  was  lying  with  his  forces  in  the  forest  of  Stronkaltire 
(probably  a  portion  of  the  famous  wood  of  Birnam),  near  the 
foot  of  the  Grampians,  and  on  the  verge  of  the  Highlands. 
The  most  skilful  dispositions  were  made  by  the  king  to  sur- 
round the  enemy,  and  the  English  had  already  moved  sev- 
eral divisions  on  different  parts  of  the  forest  with  a  view  to 
prevent  their  escape.  Sir  Andrew  Moray  was  hearing  mass 
in  a  chapel  in  the  forest,  when  the  Scottish  scouts  came  to 
tell  him  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  He  caused  them 
to  be  silent  till  the  divine  service  was  finished.  Mass  being 
ended,  his  breathless  messengers  informed  him  that  the  En- 
glish were  at  hand.  "Beit  so,"  said  Moray;  "no  need  of 
hurry."  He  then  armed  himself  deliberately,  and  caused 
his  war-horse  to  be  brought  him.  "When  in  the  act  of  mount- 
ing, he  perceived  a  girth  had  failed.  With  the  utmost  de- 
liberation the  veteran  warrior  called  for  a  certain  coffer,  out 
of  which  he  took  a  hide  of  leather,  and  having  cut  from  it  a 
strap  proper  for  the  purpose,  sitting  down  on  the  bank,  he 
composedly  mended  the  girth  with  his  own  hands,  although, 
to  the  great  anxiety  of  all  around  him,  news  came  in  on  all 
hands  of  the  close  approach  of  the  enemy  from  different 
points ;  and  old  warriors,  who  were  present,  confessed  to  the 
historian,  Winton,  prior  of  Lochleven,  that  in  their  life  they 
had  never  passed  such  anxious  moments  as  during  the  mend- 
ing of  that  saddle-girth.  But  Moray  knew  his  time  and  his 
business,  and  when  he  mounted  and  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of .  his  men,  whom  his  own  composure  had  taught  to 
have  the  most  undoubting  reliance  on  him,  he  drew  them  up 
in  a  close  column,  and  while  the  English  sought  an  opportu- 
nity of  attack,  he  led  his  band  leisurely  from  their  presence, 
and  vanished  in  safety  through  a  defile  which  he  had  kept 
open  in  his  rear. 

Edward  III.  penetrated  as  far  as  the  rich  province  of 
Moray,  carrying  devastation  wherever  he  came.  But  he 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  205 

had  then  done  the  utmost  which  was  in  his  power,  and 
was  compelled  to  retreat  by  the  consequences  to  his  own 
army  of  the  very  desolation  which  they  themselves  had 
made.  He  repaired  the  castles  held  by  English  garrisons 
through  the  kingdom,  and  marched  back  to  England,  leav- 
ing Scotland  apparently  quiet.  But  no  sooner  were  the 
weight  and  presence  of  the  English  host  withdrawn,  than 
all  the  Scottish  patriots  were  again  in  arms  in  every  quarter 
of  the  country,  assaulting  and  storming,  or  surprising  by 
stratagem,  the  garrisons  that  had  been  left  to  overawe  them, 
and  proving  that  they  were  worthy  to  have  been  subjects  of 
the  Bruce,  by  the  intelligence  with  which  they  executed  his 
precepts.  The  regent  distinguished  himself  in  this  war  as 
much  by  his  alertness  in  seizing  opportunities  of  advantage, 
as  he  had  done  when  opposed  to  Edward  by  the  prudence 
which  affords  none  to  the  enemy. 

In  the  meantime  war  broke  out  between  France  and  Eng- 
land. On  the  7th  of  October,  1337,  King  Edward  publicly 
asserted  his  claim  to  the  throne  of  that  kingdom ;  yet,  with 
this  new  and  more  dazzling  object  hi  his  view,  he  did  not 
turn  his  eyes  from  the  conquest  of  Scotland.  The  Earls  of 
Salisbury,  Arundel,  and  Norfolk,  were  intrusted  with  the 
command  of  the  northern  army,  a,nd  the  former  laid  siege 
to  the  strong  castle  of  Dunbar,  defended,  in  the  absence  of 
the  Earl  of  March,  by  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  heroic 
Thomas  Randolph,  earl  of  Moray,  and  animated  by  a  por- 
tion of  his  courage.  This  lady,  whom  the  common  people 
used  to  call  Black  Agnes  of  Dunbar,  was  one  of  those,  by 
whose  encouragement,  according  to  a  phrase  of  Froissart,  a 
man  may  become  of  double  strength  in  the  hour  of  danger. 
She  daily  made  the  round  of  the  walls  in  sight  of  besiegers 
and  besieged,  and  caused  the  maidens  of  her  train  to  wipe 
the  battlements  with  their  handkerchiefs,  when  the  stones 
from  the  engines  struck  them,  as  if  in  scorn  of  the  English 
artillery.  At  one  time,  by  engaging  him  in  a  pretended  plot 
to  receive  surrender  of  the  castle  from  a  traitorous  party 
within,  she  had  wellnigh  made  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  her 


206  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

prisoner.  On  another  occasion,  an  arrow  shot  by  an  archer 
of  her  train  struck  to  the  heart  an  English  knight,  in  spite 
of  his  being  completely  armed.  "There  goes  one  of  my 
lady's  tiring- pins, "  said  Montague,  earl  of  Salisbury:  "the 
countess's  Jove-shafts  pierce  to  the  heart."  At  another 
time,  the  English  advancing  to  the  walls  the  machine 
called  a  sow  (mentioned  in  the  account  of  the  siege  of 
Berwick,  p.  150),  Agnes  called  out  to  the  English  lord  in 
a  sort  of  rhyme, 

"Beware,  Montagow, 
For  farrow  shall  thy  sow."  l 

A  huge  rock,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  was  projected 
against  the  sow,  and  dashed  the  engine  to  pieces.  The 
English  general,  having  exhausted  the  invention  of  his  en- 
gineers to  no  purpose,  resolved  to  convert  the  siege  into  a 
blockade,  and  reduce  Dunbar  by  famine.  As  he  had  a  con- 
siderable fleet,  he  might  have  succeeded  in  his  purpose ;  but 
the  good  knight,  Sir  Alexander  Ramsay  of  Dalwolsey,  con- 
trived, by  means  of  a  light  vessel  and  a  dark  night,  to  throw 
into  the  castle  a  supply  of  provisions  and  soldiers.  This  was 
announced  to  the  besiegers  by  a  sally;  and  they  were  so 
much  disheartened  as  to  raise  the  siege,  which  had  lasted 
five  months,  and  retire*  from  before  Dunbar  with  little 
honor. 

Similar  advantages  were  gamed  by  the  patriots  all 
through  Scotland.  The  state,  indeed,  sustained  a  heavy 
loss  in  the  death  of  Sir  Andrew  Moray,  the  regent,  who, 
after  all  his  battles  and  dangers,  expired  in  peace  at  his 
castle  of  Avoch,  in  Ross.  Brother-in-law  of  the  Bruce,  and 
one  of  the  last  of  his  leaders,  he  evinced  till  his  dying  day 
the  spirit  of  valor,  sagacity,  and  patriotism,  which  merited 
that  distinguished  alliance.  He  is  censured  for  the  desolat- 
ing and  wasteful  warfare  which  he  carried  on ;  but  it  must 


1  The  poetry  may  be  original,  but  not  the  jest,  the  latter  having 
been  used  on  a  similar  occasion  at  the  siege  of  Berwick,  in  1319,  when 
it  was  defended  by  the  steward  of  Scotland  against  the  English. 


HISTOLY    OF   SCOTLAND  207 

be  remembered,  that  to  burn  the  open  country  before  the 
enemy  was  a  principal  maxim  in  Bruce 's  dreadful  lessons 
of  defensive  war. 

The  steward  of  Scotland,  freed  from  the  baneful  influence 
which  the  Anglicized  Earl  of  Athol  had  exercised  over  him, 
was  now  chosen  sole  regent,  and  showed  himself  worthy  of 
the  trust.  He  commenced  the  siege  of  Perth,  assisted  by 
five  ships  of  war  and  some  men-at-arms,  which  were  sent 
from  France.  The  regent  was  assisted  in  pressing  this  siege 
by  the  abilities  of  William  Bullock,  an  ecclesiastic  who  loved 
the  battlefield  or  the  political  scenes  of  the  cabinet  better 
than  mass  or  matins.  Edward  Baliol,  who  knew  Bullock's 
abilities,  had  raised  him  to  be  his  chancellor  of  Scotland  and 
made  him,  governor  of  a  strong  castle  in  Cupar.  Bat  when 
Edward's  presence  with  an  army  failed  to  establish  Baliol 's 
power  in  Scotland,  this  military  churchman  became  saga- 
cious of  an  approaching  change,  stubborn  fidelity  being  by 
no  means  the  virtue  of  the  day.  His  talents  were  employed 
by  the  regent  in  pressing  on  the  siege  of  Stirling,  which  was 
boldly  defended.  He  showed  the  hardihood  of  his  character 
during  a  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  took  place  in  the 
midst  of  his  operations.  While  all  others,  both  in  the  be- 
sieging army  and  garrison,  were  sinking  under  their  super- 
stitious fears,  Bullock  took  advantage  of  the  darkness  to 
wheel  his  military  engines  so  close  to  the  wall  that  when 
the  sunshine  returned  the  besieged  found  themselves  under 
the  necessity  of  surrendering.  The  steward  was  equally 
successful  in  reducing  Stirling  and  other  English  posts  to 
the  north  of  the  Forth,  and  bringing  the  whole  country 
to  the  peace  of  King  David. 

Other  Scottish  leaders  distinguished  themselves  in  differ- 
ent provinces.  Sir  William  Douglas,  the  Knight  of  Liddis- 
dale,  was  active  in  the  south  of  Scotland.  He  totally  ex- 
pelled the  English  from  Teviotdale,  reduced  the  strong  castle 
of  Hermitage,  defeated  Roland  de  Vaux,  and  having  engaged 
Sir  Laurence  Abernethy,  an  Anglicized  Scotsman,  three  times 
in  one  day,  finally  overcame  Him  in  a  fourth  encounter,  made 


208  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

him  prisoner,  and  dispersed  his  followers.  A  still  more  im 
portant  acquisition  on  the  Scottish  part  was  that  of  Edin- 
burgh Castle,  which  Edward  III.  had  fortified  when  in 
Scotland  during  his  last  campaign.  The  Knight  of  Lid- 
disdale  engaged  a  sturdy  mariner,  called  John  Currie,  to 
receive  into  his  bark  a  number  of  proved  soldiers.  John 
Currie,  assuming  the  character  of  an  English  shipmaster, 
entered  the  castle  with  a  number  of  men  disguised  in  mar- 
iners' caps  and  habits,  and  bearing  barrels  and  hampers 
supposed  to  contain  wine  and  provisions :  these  they  threw 
down  in  the  gateway,  so  as  to  prevent  the  gates  being  shut, 
and,  drawing  their  swords,  rushed  on  the  sentinels,  and  be- 
ing seconded  by  the  Knight  of  Liddisdale  and  some  chosen 
men  who  lay  in  ambush  near  the  entrance,  they  overpowered 
the  English  garrison  and  expelled  them  from  the  castle. 

Sir  Alexander  Ramsay  of  Dalwolsey,  the  same  who  gal- 
lantly relieved  the  castle  of  Dunbar,  yielded  to  none  of  the 
champions  whom  we  have  named  in  devotion  to  the  cause 
of  his  country.  As  his  own  estates  and  influence  lay  in 
Lothian  and  near  Edinburgh,  he  was  wont,  even  when  the 
English  were  in  possession  of  the  capital,  to  reside  with  a 
strong  band  of  soldiers  among  the  crags,  glens,  and  caverns 
of  the  romantic  vicinity  of  Roslin.  From  thence  he  sallied 
forth  to  annoy  the  English,  on  whom,  according  to  the 
phrase  of  the  times,  he  did  great  vassalage.  He  often  rode 
into  Northumberland,  committed  destructive  forays,  and 
returned  safe  to  his  impregnable  retreat.  His  fame  for 
chivalry  was  so  high  that  no  Scottish  youth  of  that  neigh- 
borhood was  held  worthy  of  esteem  unless  he  had  proved 
his  gallantry  by  riding  for  some  time  in  Ramsay's  band, 

By  the  achievements  of  these  brave  men  the  English  force 
was  so  much  weakened  throughout  Scotland,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  the  legal  monarch  so  completely  restored,  that  it  was 
thought  advisable  that  King  David  and  his  consort  should 
return  from  France  to  their  own  kingdom.  They  landed  at 
the  small  port  of  Inverbervie  in  Kincardineshire  in  the  month 
of  May,  1341. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  209 

In  the  same  spring  Sir  Alexander  Ramsay  of  Dalwolsey 
added  to  his  long  list  of  services  the  important  acquisition  of 
the  castle  of  Roxburgh,  which,  according  to  the  desperate 
fashion  of  the  times,  he  took  by  escalade. 

Unhappily,  the  mode  which  the  young  and  inexperienced 
king  took  to  reward  this  gallant  action  proved  fatal  to  the 
brave  knight  by  whom  it  was  achieved.  David  conferred 
on  Ramsay  the  sheriffdom  of  Roxburgh  as  a  fitting  distinc- 
tion to  one  who  had  taken  the  principal  fortress  of  the  county. 
The  Knight  of  Liddisdale,  who  had  large  possessions  in  Rox- 
burghshire, and  pretensions  by  his  services  to  the  sheriffdom, 
was  deeply  offended  by  the  preference  given  to  Ramsay. 
From  being  Sir  Alexander's  friend  and  companion  in  arms, 
he  became  his  mortal  enemy,  and  nothing  less  than  his  death 
would  appease  the  rancor  of  his  hatred.  He  came  upon  Sir 
Alexander  Ramsay,  accompanied  with  an  armed  force,  while 
he  was  exercising  justice  at  Hawick,  dispersed  his  few  attend- 
ants, wounded  him  while  on  the  bench  of  justice,  threw  him 
on  a  horse,  and  through  many  a  wild  bog  and  mountain  path 
carried  him  to  his  solitary  and  desolate  castle  of  the  Hermit- 
age, where  he  cast  him  into  the  dungeon  of  that  lonely  and 
darksome  fortress.  The  noble  captive  was  left  with  his  rank- 
ling wounds  to  struggle  with  thirst  and  hunger,  supporting 
for  some  time  a  miserable  existence  by  means  of  grain  which 
fell  from  a  granary  above,  until  death  relieved  him  from 
suffering. 

The  most  disgraceful  part  of  this  hideous  story  remains 
to  be  told.  David,  whose  favor,  imprudently  evinced,  had 
caused  the  murder  of  the  noble  Ramsay,  saw  himself  obliged, 
by  the  weakness  of  his  government  and  the  pressure  of  the 
disorderly  times,  not  only  to  pardon  the  inhuman  assassin, 
but  to  grace  him  with  the  keeping  of  the  castle  of  Roxburgh, 
which  the  valor  of  his  murdered  victim  had  won  from  the 
enemy,  and  the  sheriffdom  of  the  county,  which  was  ren- 
dered vacant  by  his  murder.  It  is  scarce  possible  to  give  a 
more  deplorable  instance  of  those  wretched  times,  in  which 
the  great  stood  above  all  law,  human  and  divine,  and  in- 


210  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

dulged  their  furious  passions  not  only  with  impunity  but 
with  an  enlarged  scope  to  their  ambition.  Neither  was  the 
act  of  cruelty  attended  with  any  blot  upon  his  fame,  since 
the  Knight  of  Liddisdale,  who,  before  Ramsay's  murder, 
had  been  distinguished  by  the  splendid  title  of  the  Flower 
of  Chivalry,  continued  to  retain  it  after  that  atrocious  trans- 
action. 

A  fate  similar  to  that  of  Ramsay  was  sustained  by  a 
victim  less  deserving  of  pity.  Bullock,  the  fighting  eccle- 
siastic, who  had  deserted  the  standards  of  England  for  those 
of  Scotland,  and  had  taken  so  great  a  share  in  the  reduction 
of  Perth,  was  suddenly,  by  the  royal  order,  seized  on  by  Sir 
David  Berkeley,  thrown  into  the  castle  of  Lochendorb  in  Mo- 
rayshire,  and  there,  like  Ramsay,  starved  to  death.  A  Scot- 
tish historian  makes  this  melancholy  remark  on  his  fate: 
"It  is  an  ancient  saying  that  neither  the  powerful,  nor  the 
valiant,  nor  the  wise,  long  flourish  in  Scotland  since  envy 
obtaineth  the  mastery  of  them  all. ' ' 

In  the  meanwhile  the  war  of  the  contending  nations  dis- 
turbed the  frontiers  with  mutual  incursions,  which  added 
much  to  public  misery,  though  they  did  little  toward  the 
decision  of  the  war;  and  casting  our  eyes  back  on  the 
consequences  of  continued  hostilities  of  the  most  desolat- 
ing nature,  we  see  effects  so  frightful  as  if  God  and  man 
had  alike  determined  upon  the  total  destruction  of  the 
country. 

Between  the  desultory  ravages  of  the  English  and  those 
exercised  upon  system  by  the  Scottish  leaders,  all  the  regular 
practice  of  agriculture  was  interrupted  year  after  year,  and 
the  produce  in  a  great  measure  destroyed.  A  great  famine 
was  the  consequence ;  the  land  that  once  bore  crops  was  left 
uncultivated,  waste,  and  overgrown  with  briers  and  thickets, 
while  wolves  and  wild  deer  approached,  contrary  to  their 
nature,  the  dwellings  of  man.  The  starving  sufferers  were 
compelled  to  feed  on  substances  most  abhorrent  to  human 
appetite;  and  one  wretch,  called  Christian  Cleik,  with  his 
wife,  subsisted  on  the  flesh  of  children  whom  they  caught 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

in  traps  and  devoured.     These  wretched  cannibals  were  de- 
tected, condemned,  and  burned  to  death. 

Famine,  and  the  wretched  shifts  by  which  men  strove  to 
avoid  its  rage,  brought  on  disease,  their  natural  consequence. 
A  pestilence  swept  the  land,  and  destroyed  many  of  the  en- 
feebled inhabitants,  while  others  emigrated  to  France  and 
Flanders,  forsaking  a  country  on  which  it  seemed  to  have 
pleased  Heaven  to  empty  the  bitterest  vials  of  its  wrath. 
And  the  termination  of  these  misfortunes  was  far  distant. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XIV 

King  David's  Character — Invasion  of  England — Battle  of  Durham 
— The  Border  Counties  are  conquered — The  Steward  defends  the 
Country  beyond  the  Forth;  and  Douglas  recovers  Ettricke 
Forest  and  Teviotdale — A  Truce  with  England — David  II.  rec- 
ognizes the  Supremacy  of  Edward;  but  his  Subjects  refuse  to 
do  so — The  Knight  of  Liddisdale  seduced  from  his  Allegiance: 
slain  by  his  Godson,  Lord  Douglas — Treaty  for  the  King's  Ran- 
som is  broken  off  by  the  Interference  of  France— Battle  of 
Nesbit  Moor — Attempt  on  Berwick,  which  is  relieved  by  Ed- 
ward III. — He  invades  Scotland — The  Burnt  Candlemas— The 
English  are  compelled  to  Retreat — King  David  is  released  from 
Captivity— His  petulant  Temper — His  repeated  Visits  to  Eng- 
land, and  the  Influence  acquired  over  him  by  Edward — He 
proposes  that  the  Succession  of  Scotland  should  go  to  Edward's 
Son  Lionel — The  Scottish  Parliament  reject  the  Proposal — In- 
surrection of  the  Steward  and  other  Nobles:  it  is  subdued,  and 
Tranquillity  restored — New  Scheme  of  Edward  and  David, 
which  is  laid  aside  as  impracticable — David  II.  marries 
Catherine  Logie,  a  beautiful  Plebeian — Treaty  of  Peace  inter- 
rupted by  Difficulties  about  the  King's  Ransom,  which  are 
finally  removed — Divorce  between  David  and  his  Queen — Death 
of  David  II. — His  Character — State  of  Scotland  during  his 
Reign 

DAVID  II.  was,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  son 
of  Robert   Bruce,   dauntlessly  intrepid.      He  pos- 
sessed a  goodly  person  (a  strong  recommendation 
to  the  common  people),  and  skill  in  martial  exercises.     But 
his  education  at  the  court  of  France  had  given  him  an  un- 
controllable love  of  pleasure ;   and  such  a  propensity,  while 
it  resolves  itself  into  the  principle  of  intense  selfishness,  forms 
the  very  reverse  of  the  public-spirited  and  disinterested  char- 
acter of  a  patriot  king.     He  was  young  also,  being  only  about 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  213 

eighteen  when  he  landed  at  Inverbervie,  and  totally  inexpe- 
rienced. Such  was  the  situation  and  disposition  of  the  juve- 
nile king  of  a  country  at  once  assailed  by  foreign  war  with 
an  enemy  of  superior  force,  by  civil  faction  and  discord  in 
its  most  frightful  shape,  by  raging  pestilence  and  wasting 
famine.  It  was  only  the  additional  curse  of  a  weak  and 
imprudent  prince  that  could  have  added  fresh  gall  to  so 
much  bitterness. 

The  ablest  and  most  trustworthy  counsellor  whom  David 
could  have  consulted  was  unquestionably  the  steward,  who 
had  held  the  regency  till  he  resigned  it  on  the  king's  arrival. 
But,  failing  heirs  of  David's  body,  of  which  none  as  yet  ex- 
isted, the  steward  was  heir  of  the  throne,  and  princes  seldom 
love  or  greatly  trust  their  successors  when  not  of  their  own 
immediate  family. 

As  Edward  was  absent  in  France,  the  time  had  seemed 
favorable  for  an  attack  upon  the  frontiers.  Several  attempts 
were  made  without  decisive  success  on  either  side,  which  led 
to  a  truce  of  two  years,  ending  on  Martinmas,  1346.  This 
cessation -of  arms  was  made  between  England  and  France, 
and  Scotland  was  included.  David  and  his  subjects,  how- 
ever, became  weary  of  the  truce,  which  was  broken  off  by 
a  fierce  incursion  of  the  Knight  of  Liddisdale  into  England. 
In  1344,  David  prepared  for  an  invasion  upon  a  much  larger 
scale,  and  summoned  the  whole  array  of  Scotland,  whether 
Highland  or  Lowland,  to  assemble  at  Perth.  They  came  in 
great  numbers,  and  Reginald  or  Ranald  of  the  Isles,  in  par- 
ticular, appeared  with  a  strong  body  of  his  followers.  Un- 
happily there  was  a  deadly  feud  between  this  island  lord  and' 
the  powerful  Earl  of  Ross.  By  the  machinations  of  the  lat- 
ter chief,  Reginald  was  murdered  by  a  faithless  harper,  while 
in  the  monastery  of  Elcho,  near  Perth.  The  assassin,  with 
his  numerous  followers,  retired  from  the  king's  host  for  fear 
of  punishment.  The  men  of  the  isles,  disgusted  with  the 
loss  of  their  lord,  and  apprehensive  of  evil  consequences, 
broke  up,  and,  deserting  the  royal  standard,  retired  home 
hi  disorder,  leaving  the  king's  army  much  diminished  in 


214  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

numbers.     David,  however,  determined  to  proceed  on  his 
expedition.  . 

He  entered  England  from  the  western  frontier.  A  fortress 
called  the  Moat  of  Liddell  was  held  out  stoutly  by  Walter 
Selby,  the  accomplice  of  the  famous  Middleton  in  the  spolia- 
tion of  the  two  cardinals  and  bishop-elect  of  Durham,  and 
various  other  acts  of  robbery.  At  present  he  seems  to  have 
been  engaged  in  the  lawful  defence  of  England,  his  native 
country;  and  we  are,  therefore,  startled  when  we  learn  that 
the  fortress  being  stormed,  the  governor  was  by  King  David 
ordered  to  be  beheaded ;  for  what  crime  against  that  prince 
is  not  apparent. 

Moving  eastward  to  Hexham,  David's  army  marked  its 
progress  by  the  usual  course  of  ferocious  devastation,  the 
more  censured  in  that  age,  because  the  patrimony  of  St. 
Cuthbert  experienced  no  favor  or  protection.  The  great 
northern  barons  of  England,  Percy  and  Neville,  Musgrave, 
Scrope,  and  Hastings,  assembled  their  forces  in  numbers 
sufficient  to  show  that,  though  the  conqueror  of  Crecy  with 
his  victorious  army  was  absent  in  France,  there  were  En- 
glishmen enough  left  at  home  to  protect  the  frontiers  of  his 
kingdom  from  violation.  The  archbishops  of  Canterbury 
and  York,  the  prelates  of  Durham,  Carlisle,  and  Lincoln, 
sent  their  retainers,  and  attended  the  rendezvous  in  person 
to  add  religious  enthusiasm  to  the  patriotic  zeal  of  the 
barons.  Ten  thousand  soldiers,  who  were  to  have  been 
sent  over  to  Calais  to  reinforce  Edward  III.'s  army,  were 
countermanded  in  this  exigency,  and  added  to  the  northern 
army. 

Upon  hearing  of  this  formidable  assembly  of  forces,  the 
Knight  of  Liddisdale  advised  the  Scottish  king  to  retreat, 
and  avoid  a  pitched  battle.  But  the  other  barons,  conceiv- 
ing they  saw  a  rich  scene  of  plunder  before  them,  would  not 
listen  to  this  counsel,  which  they  imputed  to  the  selfishness 
•  of  Douglas,  who,  having  enriched  himself  by  English  spoils, 
was  now  desirous,  they  thought,  to  abridge  the  opportunity 
of  others  to  obtain  their  share.  King  David  advanced  to  the 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

park  called  Beaurepaire,  near  Durham  (by  corruption  Bear 
Park),  and  took  up  his  quarters  there,  although  the  ground 
was  so  intersected  by  enclosures  as  to  render  it  difficult  to 
draw  up  the  troops  in  order,  and  impossible  for  the  divisions 
duly  to  support  each  other. 

The  Knight  of  Liddisdale  had  advanced,  on  the  morning 
of  the  17th  October,  1346,  with  four  hundred  men-at-arms, 
to  collect  forage  and  provisions,  when,  at  Ferry  on  the  Hill, 
he  unexpectedly  found  himself  in  presence  of  the  whole  En- 
glish army,  then  on  their  march  from  Bishop  Auckland, 
where  they  had  assembled,  toward  Sunderland.  His  forces 
being  totally  inadequate  to  make  a  stand,  the  Scottish  com- 
mander endeavored,  but  unsuccessfully,  to  retreat.  He  was 
attacked,  charged,  routed,  and  suffered  great  loss.  He  and 
the  remains  of  his  division  had  but  time  to  gallop  into  the 
Scottish  camp  and  give  the  alarm,  when  the  enemy  were 
upon  them. 

The  Scottish  army  was  hastily  drawn  up  in  three  divis- 
ions, as  well  as  the  broken  and  subdivided  nature  of  the 
ground  permitted.  The  right  was  commanded  by  the  Earl 
of  Moray ;  the  centre  by  the  king  in  person ;  the  left  by  the 
Knight  of  Liddisdale,  the  steward  of  Scotland,  and  the  Earl 
of  Dunbar.  This  arrangement  was  hardly  accomplished  ere 
the  English  archers,  to  the  number  of  ten  thousand,  came 
within  sight.  An  experienced  commander,  Sir  John  de 
Graham,  foreseeing  the  fatal  consequences  which  were 
to  ensue,  entreated  the  king  to  permit  him  to  charge  the 
archers  with  a  body  of  cavalry.  "Give  me,"  he  said,  "but 
one  hundred  horse;  I  will  be  answerable  for  riding  them 
down,  and  dispersing  them."  "But,  to  speak  truth,"  says 
the  old  historian  Fordun,  "de  Graham  could  not  obtain 
a  single  horseman."  The  reason  might  be,  that  the  loss  at 
Ferry  Hill,  that  same  morning,  had  fallen  chiefly  on  the 
Scottish  men-at-arms,  and  that  they  had  been  thus  rendered 
to  a  great  degree  unserviceable;  but  it  is  more  generally  at- 
tributed to  the  caprice  and  wilfulness  of  the  young  king. 
Graham  attempted  with  his  own  followers  to  make  the 


216  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

desired  manoeuvre ;  but  being  far  too  few  to  make  the  neces- 
sary impression  on  the  archers,  they  were  beaten  off,  and 
himself  escaped  with  difficulty.  The  unerring  shower  of 
arrows  then  commenced,  and  flew  without  intermission 
against  the  Scots  as  thick  as  hail,  and  they  were  at  the 
same  time  charged  by  the  men-at-arms  and  billmen.  The 
numerous  enclosures  cramped  and  interrupted  their  system 
of  defence,  and  at  length  the  right  wing,  under  the  Earl  of 
Moray,  began  to  fly.  The  English  cavalry  broke  down 
on  them,  and  completed  the  rout.  They  were  thrown  into 
complete  disorder  and  then  flight,  which  afforded  the  English 
an  opportunity  to  attack  the  division  of  the  king  at  once  upon 
the  left  flank,  now  uncovered,  and  on  the  front.  Amid  re- 
peated charges,  and  the  most  dispiriting  slaughter  by  the 
continuous  discharge  of  the  English  arrows,  David  showed 
that  he  had  the  courage  though  not  the  talents  of  his  father. 
He  was  twice  severely  wounded  with  arrows,  but  continued 
to  encourage  to  the  last  the  few  of  his  peers  and  officers 
who  were  still  fighting  around  him.  At  length,  in  a  close 
melee,  a  Northumberland  knight,  named  Copland,  grappled 
with  David,  and  made  him  prisoner,  but  not  before  the  king 
had  struck  out  two  of  Copland's  front  teeth  with  his  gauntlet. 
On  the  fall  of  the  royal  banner,  the  steward  and  the  Earl 
of  March,  who  had  not  as  yet  sustained  much  loss,  despair- 
ing of  being  able  to  aid  the  king  or  restore  the  battle,  with- 
drew from  the  field  in  tolerable  order,  and  carried  their 
division  and  such  as  rallied  under  their  standards  back  into 
Scotland.  David  II.,  it  has  been  thought,  considered  this 
retreat  as  resembling  a  desertion,  the  more  suspicious,  as 
the  next  heir  to  the  crown  was  at  its  head.  The  captive 
king  was  conveyed  to  London,  and  afterward,  in  solemn 
procession,  to  the  Tower,  attended  by  a  guard  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  and  all  the  city  companies  in  complete  pag- 
eantry. There  were  made  prisoners  with  David  Bruce  the 
Earls  of  Fife,  Monteith,  and  Wigton,  as  also  the  Knight 
of  Liddisdale,  who  apparently  had  put  himself  into  that 
predicament  by  his  advancing  to  support  the  king,  since 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  217 

he  might  otherwise  have  retreated  with  the  steward  and 
the  Earl  of  March,  whose  command  he  shared.  About  fifty 
barons  had  the  same  fate. 

There  remained  slain  on  the  fatal  field  of  Neville's  Cross 
the  Earls  of  Moray  and  Strathern,  David  de  la  Hay,  the 
high  constable  of  Scotland,  Robert  Keith  the  great  marshal, 
the  chamberlain,  and  the  chancellor,  with  very  many  men 
of  rank.  Of  the  lower  classes,  at  least  fifteen  thousand  are 
computed  to  have  fallen. 

The  nation  of  Scotland  was  but  beginning  to  draw  its 
breath  after  its  unparalleled  sufferings  during  the  civil  war, 
when  it  was,  to  all  appearance,  totally  prostrated  by  the 
blow  to  which  David  had  imprudently  exposed  his  realm. 
The  whole  border  counties  of  Scotland  surrendered  them- 
selves without  attempting  an  unavailing  defence.  The  line 
of  the  frontiers  was  carried  northward  to  the  southern  bor- 
ders of  Lothian,  and  extended  between  Colbrand's  Path  and 
the  Soltra  Hills,  and  was  afterward  pushed  still  further 
north,  for  it  finally  ran  between  Carlops  and  Crosscryne. 

The  king  of  England  abused  his  victory  by  cruelty.  He 
brought  two  of  his  noble  captives,  the  Earl  of  Monteith, 
and  Duncan,  earl  of  Fife,  to  trial,  for  having  turned  to 
Bruce's  party,  after  having  been  liegemen  to  Baliol,  and, 
like  a  similar  example  of  modern  times,  he  transmitted  to 
the  judges  with  the  commission  for  trying  the  prisoners  a 
scroll  of  the  doom  previously  fixed  by  himself  and  his  privy- 
council.  The  decision  of  a  court  so  well  instructed  in  its 
duty  was  no  matter  of  question.  Both  earls  were  convicted 
of  high  treason,  and  the  Earl  of  Monteith  suffered  the  hide- 
ous punishment  annexed  to  that  crime  by  the  English  law. 

Yet  while  thus  severely  punishing  those  who  had  been 
traitors,  as  it  was  called,  to  Baliol,  Edward  had  no  purpose 
of  restoring  to  his  ally  any  delegated  power  in  Scotland. 
The  ex-king  had,  since  his  repeated  expulsion  from  his  king- 
dom, lived  upon  appointments  afforded  him  from  England, 
and  acted  more  as  a  lieutenant  of  the  English  marches  than 
a  prince  having  a  right  to  the  Scottish  throne,  nor  did  the 
10  ^  VOL.  I. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

victory  of  Neville's  Cross  extend  his  authority.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  English  barons  Lucy,  Dacre,  and  Umfraville 
received  a  commission  to  accept  the  allegiance  which  it  was 
supposed  the  humbled  inhabitants  of  Scotland  would  be  will- 
ing universally  to  transfer  to  King  Edward  in  person. 

Upon  this,  however,  as  well  as  other  occasions  of  immi- 
nent peril,  the  Scottish  people,  on  the  very  brink  of  ruin  as 
an  independent  nation,  found  a  remedy  in  their  own  daunt- 
less courage.  The  nobility  who  had  escaped  from  the  field 
of  Neville's  Cross  restored  the  steward  of  Scotland,  heir  of 
the  crown,  to  the  regency  of  the  kingdom,  in  place  of  the 
imprisoned  king.  Yielding  up  the  southern  provinces,  which 
he  could  not  defend,  the  steward  placed  the  country  north 
of  the  Forth  in  as  strong  a  posture  as  he  could,  and  amid 
terror  and  disturbance  maintained  a  show  of  government 
and  good  order.  At  this  critical  period  William,  Lord  Doug- 
las, returned  from  France,  where  he  had  been  bred  to  arms, 
and,  with  the  active  valor  of  his  uncle,  the  good  Lord  James, 
expelled  the  English  invaders  from  his  own  domains  of 
Douglas  Dale,  and  in  process  of  time  from  Ettricke  Forest 
and  Teviotdale,  provinces  of  which  the  warlike  population 
had  been  long  followers  of  this  chivalrous  family. 

The  consequences  of  these  successes  would  probably  have 
been  a  furious  invasion  of  Scotland,  had  it  depended  entirely 
upon  the  will  of  Edward  III.  But  the  consent  of  the  En- 
glish barons  was  necessary,  and  they  were  little  disposed 
to  aid  in  a  renewal  of  those  expensive  and  destructive  hos- 
tilities which  had  been  so  often  and  so  fruitlessly  waged 
against  Scotland.  The  king  of  England,  therefore,  reluc- 
tantly consented  to  a  truce  with  the  steward,  which  he  re- 
newed from  time  to  time,  as  he  began  to  conceive  designs 
of  at  once  filling  his  coffers  with  a  large  ransom  for  his  royal 
prisoner,  David,  and  to  secure  a  right  of  succession  to  the 
Scottish  throne  by  other  means  than  open  war. 

"With  this  view,  the  royal  captive  was  treated  with  more 
kindness  than  at  first,  and  (to  sharpen,  perhaps,  his  appetite 
for  restoration  to  freedom  and  to  his  kingdom)  he  was 


MARY  STUART  AND   FRANCIS  II. 


Scotland^  vol.  ant. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  219 

allowed  to  visit  Scotland,  on  making  oath  and  finding  host- 
ages to  return  in  a  time  limited.  Impatient  as  his  prede- 
cessor William  the  Lion,  David  seems  to  have  been  ready 
to  submit  his  kingdom  to  the  sovereignty  of  Edward,  and 
yield  up  once  more  the  question  of  supremacy,  in  order  to 
obtain  his  personal  freedom.  He  appears  even  to  have 
taken  some  steps  for  that  purpose.  Two  instruments  re- 
main, by  which  David  recognizes  the  title  of  Edward  as  lord 
paramount,  and  agrees  to  take  the  oath  of  homage.  The 
purpose  of  his  temporary  liberation  being  partly  to  give  him 
an  opportunity  of  sounding  the  opinion  and  sentiments  of  hig 
people  on  this  important  point,  the  English  commissioners 
were  empowered  to  protract  his  term  of  abseuce,  if  they 
should  think  the  execution  of  a  treaty  on  such  a  foundation 
could  be  advanced  by  it.  But  when  the  pulse  of  the  Scottish 
nobles  was  sounded  on  this  subject,  they  made  a  unanimous 
declaration,  that  though  they  would  joyfully  impoverish 
themselves  to  purchase  with  money  the  freedom  of  their 
sovereign,  they  would  never  agree  to  surrender,  for  that 
or  any  other  object,  the  independence  of  their  country. 
David  was  therefore  obliged  to  return  to  his  captivity. 

Mr.  Tytler  conjectures  that  it  was  as  a  subsidiary  part 
of  this  agreement  between  the  two  kings  that  Edward  III. 
entered  into  a  sort  of  treaty  with  the  Knight  of  Liddisdale, 
also  a  prisoner  in  England  since  the  battle  of  Neville's  Cross, 
by  which  the  latter,  assuming  a  treasonable  independence, 
and  renouncing,  under  a  thin  and  affected  disguise,  the 
allegiance  and  duty  which  he  owed  to  his  own  king  and 
country,  became  bound  to  admit  Englishmen  to  pass  through 
his  territories  at  all  times,  and  for  all  purposes;  engaged 
to  keep  on  foot  a  body  of  men  for  the  service  of  Edward; 
and,  in  short,  transferred  to  the  English  king  those  military 
services  which  he  owed  to  his  native  country.  The  consid- 
eration for  this  treacherous  desertion  was  his  liberation  from 
prison,  a  grant  by  King  Edward  of  the  lands  and  lordship 
of  Liddisdale  and  the  castle  of  Hermitage,  with  some  posses- 
sions in  the  mountains  of  Annandale.  "We  can  hardly  think 


220  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

that  the  whole  of  this  treaty  was  known  to  David,  although 
it  is  probable  he  was  aware  that  the  Knight  of  Liddisdale 
was  disposed  to  favor  an  alliance  with  England.  But, 
whether  with  or  without  the  knowledge  of  his  sovereign, 
too  certain  it  is,  to  borrow  the  pathetic  language  of  Lord 
Hailes,  that,  "thus  in  an  evil  hour  did  Sir  "William  Douglas 
at  once  cancel  the  merit  of  former  achievements,  and,  for 
the  possession  of  a  precarious  inheritance,  transmit  his  name 
to  posterity  in  the  roll  of  time-servers  and  traitors." 

The  Knight  of  Liddisdale's  schemes,  indeed,  were  baffled 
almost  as  soon  as  formed.  He  had  not  long  been  in  posses- 
sion of  the  freedom  thus  basely  obtained,  before  he  was 
waylaid  and  slain,  while  hunting  in  Ettricke  Forest,1  by  his 
own  kinsman  and  godson,  William,  lord  of  Douglas.  The 
contemporary  historians  are  at  a  loss  whether  to  ascribe  this 
act  of  violence  on  the  part  of  Lord  Douglas  to  domestic  jeal- 
ousy or  to  revenge  for  the  murder  of  Ramsay  and  that 
of  Sir  David  Berkeley,  assassinated  by  the  command  of  the 
Knight  of  Liddisdale  while  he  was  yet  captive  in  London, 
July  13,  1354.  But,  in  our  time,  the  knowledge  having 
emerged  of  Liddisdale's  traitorous  engagement  with  Ed- 
ward, we  can  easily  conceive  that  Lord  Douglas  may  have 
taken  his  kinsman's  life  as  that  of  a  traitor  to  the  kingdom, 
and  a  dangerous  rival  in  his  own  family  rights. 

Shortly  after  this  incident,  a  treaty  for  the  ransom  of 
David  was  agreed  upon  by  commissioners  at  Newcastle,  for 
ninety  thousand  marks  sterling,  which  sum  was  to  be  paid 
up  by  instalments  of  ten  thousand  marks  yearly.  All  the 
nobility  of  the  kingdom,  and  all  the  merchants,  were  to 
become  bound  for  the  regular  payment  of  these  large  sums. 
The  greater  part  of  the  Scottish  nobles  thought  this  an  ex- 


1  The  spot  is  called,  in  old  histories,  Galsewood  or  Galseford.  Tradi- 
tion fixes  it  at  William's  Cross,  between  Tweed  and  Yarrow,  where  a 
cross  is  said  to  have  long  existed  in  memory  of  the  incident.  Lindean 
Church,  where  the  obsequies  of  the  slaughtered  Knight  of  Liddisdale 
were  first  performed,  is  exactly  half-way  between  William's  Cross  and 
Melrose,  where  the  body  was  finally  interred. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

orbitant  demand  for  the  liberty  of  a  prince  of  moderate 
talents,  without  heirs  of  his  body,  and  attached  to  idle 
pleasures.  While  the  estates  were  doubting  whether  or  not 
the  treaty  should  be  ratified,  the  arrival  of  a  brave  French 
knight,  De  Qarencieres,  with  a  small  but  selected  body  of 
knights  and  esquires,  and  the  large  sum  of  forty  thousand 
moutons  of  gold,  to  be  distributed  among  the  Scots  nobles 
on  condition  of  their  breaking  the  truce  and  invading  Eng- 
land, decided  their  resolution.  They  readily  adopted,  at 
whatevet  future  risk,  the  course  which  was  attended  with 
receiving  money,  instead  of  that  which  involved  their  own 
paying  it.  Indeed,  the  Northumbrian  borderers  themselves 
made  the  first  aggression,  by  invading  and  spoiling  the 
lands  of  the  Earl  of  March.  The  Douglas  and  the  Earl 
of  March  determined  on  reprisals. 

The  Scottish  nobles  conducted  their  inroad  as  men  well 
acquainted  with  the  stratagems  of  border  warfare.  A  strong 
advance  party  of  five  hundred  men  was  sent  into  Northum- 
berland under  command  of  Sir  William  Ramsay  (son  of  the 
murdered  Sir  Alexander),  while  the  two  earls  with  the  main 
body  remained  in  ambush  at  a  place  called  Nesbit,  within 
the  Scottish  frontier.  Ramsay  speedily  swept  together  a 
great  spoil,  and  proceeded,  according  to  his  instructions,  to 
drive  them  into  Scotland,  under  the  full  view  of  the  garrison 
of  Norham.  Fired  at  this  insult,  Sir  Thomas  Gray,  gov- 
ernor of  the  castle,  rushed  out  at  the  head  of  a  select  body 
of  men-at-arms,  and  pursuing  Ramsay,  who  retreated  before 
him,  fell  into  the  ambuscade  which  had  been  laid  for  him, 
and,  after  a  most  chivalrous  defence,  was  defeated  and  made 
prisoner. 

Another,  though  momentary  gleam  of  success,  shone  on 
the  Scottish  arms.  The  Earls  of  Angus  and  March,  assisted 
by  the  French  auxiliaries,  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
important  town  of  Berwick,  but  failed  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  castle.  At  this  important  crisis,  the  French,  who 
had  done  various  feats  of  arms  under  Eugene  de  Garencieres, 
took  their  leave  and  returned  home,  disgusted  with  the  ser- 


222  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

vice  in  Scotland.  Their  national  valor  induced  them  to  face 
with  readiness  the  dangers  of  the  warfare;  but  their  manners 
and  habits  made  them  impatient  of  the  rough  fare  and  fierce 
manners  of  their  allies. 

Edward  III.  no  sooner  heard  of  the  defeat  at  Nesbit,  and 
the  surprise  of  Berwick,  than  he  passed  over  from  Calais, 
and  appeared  before  the  town  with  a  great  part  of  that  vet- 
eran army  which  had  been  so  often  victorious  in  France, 
and  large  reinforcements,  who  emulated  their  valor.  His 
whole  army  amounted  to  eighty  thousand  men.  The  Scots 
who  had  gained  the  town  had  had  no  time  to  store  them- 
selves with  provisions,  or  make  other  preparations  for  de- 
fence. They  were  not,  besides,  in  possession  of  the  castle, 
from  which  they  were  liable  to  be  attacked,  while  the  king 
of  England  should  storm  the  walls.  They  capitulated,  there- 
fore, for  permission  to  evacuate  the  town,  of  which  Edward 
obtained  possession  by  the  terror  of  his  appearance  alone. 

Berwick  regained,  it  was  now  the  object  of  Edward  III. 
to  march  into  Scotland,  and  to  put  a  final  end  to  the  inter- 
ruptions which  the  Scottish  wars  so  repeatedly  offered  to 
his  operations  in  France.  He  determined,  being  now  in 
possession  of  all  means  supposed  adequate  to  the  purpose, 
to  make  a  final  conquest  of  the  kingdom,  and  forcibly  unite 
it,  as  his  grandfather  had  joined  "Wales,  to  the  larger  and 
richer  portion  of  the  island. 

But  as,  like  that  grandfather,  Edward  III.  had  not  leis- 
ure to  conquer  kingdoms  for  other  men,  it  was  necessary  for 
him  to  clear  the  way  of  the  claims  of  Baliol,  whom  he  had 
hitherto  professed  to  regard  as  the  legitimate  king  of  Scot- 
land. This  was  easily  arranged;  for  Edward  Baliol  was, 
in  the  hands  of  Edward  III.,  a  far  more  flexible  tool  than 
his  father  had  proved  in  those  of  Edward  I.  Being  a  mere 
phantom,  whom  Edward  could  summon  upon  the  scene  and 
dismiss  at  pleasure,  he  was  probably  very  easily  molded  to 
the  purpose  of  the  king  of  England,  and  of  free  consent  and 
goodwill  underwent  the  ceremony  of  degradation,  to  which 
his  father,  after  failing  in  all  attempts  at  resistance,  had  been 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  223 

» 

compelled  to  submit,  and  which  procured  him  the  dishonor- 
able nickname  of  Toom-tabard,  or  Empty  Jacket.  Edward 
Baliol  appeared  before  Edward  attired  in  all  the  symbols  of 
royalty,  of  which  he  formally  divested  himself,  and  laying 
his  golden  crown  at  the  feet  of  the  English  king,  ceded  to 
him  all  right,  title,  and  interest,  which  he  had  or  might 
claim  in  the  sovereignty  of  Scotland.  The  causes  inducing 
him  to  this  transference  and  surrender  the  cedent  alleged  to 
be,  first,  the  advance  of  old  age,  and  the  want  of  heirs  to 
succeed  him ;  secondly,  his  high  obligations  to  the  English 
king,  his  especial  affection  for  him,  and  the  nearness  of  blood 
which  existed  between  them;  together  with  the  ingratitude 
and  rebellion  of  his  Scottish  relations  and  subjects,  and  in 
general  his  desire  to  promote  the  advantage  of  both  nations. 
Such  were  the  pretexts;  but  in  reality  Baliol  possessed  no 
interest  whatever  in  Scotland ;  he  was  a  mere  stipendiary 
and  pensioner  of  England,  and  Edward  was  now  desirous 
to  be  rid  of  him,  and  either  to  acquire  the  crown  of  Scotland 
to  himself  directly  by  virtue  of  Baliol's  cession  in  his  favor, 
or,  if  that  project  should  fail,  to  achieve  the  same  object  by 
making  some  composition  with  the  imprisoned  David,  whom 
he  found  not  indisposed  to  agree  to  a  settlement  of  the  crown 
on  a  son  of  the  king  of  England,  in  exchange  for  his  own 
liberty.  In  guerdon  of  his  pliancy,  Baliol,  when  retiring 
into  private  life,  was  to  be  endowed  by  Edward  III.  with 
a  sum  of  five  thousand  marks,  and  a  stipend  or  annuity  of 
two  thousand  pounds  sterling  a  year.  With  this  splendid 
income  Edward  Baliol  retired  into  privacy  and  obscurity, 
and  is  never  again  mentioned  in  history.  The  spirit  of  en- 
terprise which  dictated  the  invasion  of  Scotland  in  1 332,  and 
the  adventurous  attack  upon  the  Scottish  encampment  at 
Dupplin  Moor,  shows  itself  in  no  other  part  of  his  conduct, 
which  may  lead  us  to  think  that  an  attempt  so  daring  was 
no  suggestion  of  his  own  mind,  but  breathed  into  it  by  the 
counsels  of  some  master-spirit  among  his  councillors.  In 
battle  he  showed  the  bravery  of  a  soldier ;  but  in  other  re- 
spects he  never  seems  to  have  displayed  talents  whether  for 


224:  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

war  or  peace.  He  died  childless  in  the  year  1363 ;  and  thus 
ended  in  his  person  the  line  of  Baliol,  whose  pretensions  had 
cost  Scotland  so  dear. 

The  campaign  which  Edward  designed  should  be  decisive 
of  the  fate  of  Scotland  now  approached.  The  Scottish  nobles, 
more  wise  in  calamity  than  success,  taught  and  convinced  by 
experience  of  the  danger  of  encountering  the  enemy  in  pitched 
battle  and  in  the  open  field,  resolved  to  practice  the  lessons 
of  defensive  war  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  them  by 
their  deliverer,  King  Robert.  Time  was,  however,  required 
to  lay  the  country  waste,  to  withdraw  the  inhabitants,  and 
to  take  the  other  precautions  necessary  for  this  stern  and 
desolating  species  of  resistance.  For  this  purpose  Earl 
Douglas  was  sent  to  King  Edward,  to  protract  time  as 
long  as  he  could  with  offers  of  negotiation.  He  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  truce  of  ten  days,  during  the  greater  part  of 
which  he  remained  in  the  English  camp,  and  then  left  it, 
exulting  in  having  obtained  the  necessary  space  for  de- 
fensive preparations,  of  which  his  countrymen  had  made 
excellent  use. 

Scotland  was  now  somewhat  hi  the  same  condition  as 
when  invaded  in  1322,  but  thus  far  worse  situated,  that, 
as  Edward  III.  was  a  heroic  character  a  hundred  times 
more  formidable  than  his  father,  so  the  chiefs  whom  Scot- 
land had  now  to  oppose  against  the  victor,  at  whose  name 
France  trembled,  were  as  far  inferior  in  talents  to  the 
Bruce.  They  were  imbued,  however,  with  his  sentiments, 
and  were  determined  to  act  upon  them;  and  thus  being 
dead,  Kong  Robert  might  be  said  still  to  direct  the  Scottish 
army. 

Edward  no  sooner  entered  Scotland  than  he  found  his 
troops  in  want  of  every  species  of  supply  save  what  they  bore 
along  with  them.  The  villages  and  farmyards  were  silent, 
and  vacant  alike  of  men,  grain,  and  cattle.  Within  the  cir- 
cuit of  an  ordinary  foraging  party,  no  species  of  supply  was 
to  be  found.  If  any  ventured  beyond  the  reach  of  speedy 
and  instant  support,  they  were  overwhelmed  by  the  Scots, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  225 

who,  lying  in  ambush  in  glens,  morasses,  and  forests,  pounced 
on  them  from  all  sides,  and  gave  no  quarter.  Incensed  at 
the  difficulties  and  privations  by  which  he  was  surrounded, 
and  conscious  that  he  had  been  overreached  by  Douglas  in 
the  previous  negotiation,  Edward  vented  his  wrath  in  reck- 
less and  indiscriminate  destruction,  burning  every  town  and 
village  which  he  approached,  without  sparing  the  edifices 
which  were  dedicated  to  Heaven  and  holy  uses.  The  fine 
abbey  church  at  Haddington,  called  the  Lamp  of  Lothian, 
from  the  beauty  of  its  architecture,  was  burned  down,  and 
the  monastery,  as  well  as  the  town  itself,  utterly  destroyed. 
These  ravages  caused  the  period  (February,  1356)  to  be  long 
remembered  by  the  title  of  the  Burnt  Candlemas. 

The  vehemence  of  Edward's  passion,  and  the  furious  man- 
ner in  which  he  vented  it,  might  soothe  him  with  feelings  of 
gratified  vengeance,  but  could  neither  find  provisions  for  his 
men  nor  forage  for  his  army,  and  man  and  horse  began  to 
sink  under  privation  approaching  to  famine.  Edward  had 
expected  to  meet  his  victualling  ships,  which  had  been  de- 
spatched to  Berwick;  but  no  sail  appeared  on  the  ship] ess 
seas.  After  waiting  ten  days  among  the  ruins  of  Hadding- 
ton, his  difficulties  increasing  with  every  minute,  Edward  at 
length  learned  that  a  storm  had  dispersed  his  fleet,  not  one 
of  which  had  been  able  to  enter  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Retreat 
was  now  inevitable:  the  sufferings  of  the  English  soldiers 
rendered  it  disorderly,  and  it  was  attended  with  proportional 
loss.  The  Scots,  from  mountains,  dingles,  forests,  and  path- 
less wildernesses,  approached  the  English  army  on  every 
side,  watching  it  as  the  carrion  crows  and  ravens  wait  on  a 
tainted  flock,  to  destroy  such  as  fall  down  through  weak- 
ness. To  avoid  returning  through  the  wasted  province  of 
Berwickshire,  Edward  involved  himself  in  the  defiles  of  the 
upper  part  of  Teviotdale  and  Ettricke  Forest,  where  he  suf- 
fered much  loss  from  the  harassing  attacks  of  Douglas,  and 
on  one  occasion  very  narrowly  escaped  being  made  prisoner. 

The  failure  of  this  great  enterprise,  the  fifth  in  which  the 
attempt  of  invasion  had  been  foiled,  seems  to  have  induced 


Ji26  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Edward  to  resort  to  other  means  than  those  of  open  and 
avowed  hostility  for  the  establishment  of  his  power  in  Scot- 
land, an  object  which  he  conceived  to  be  still  within  his 
reach.  The  temper  of  his  royal  prisoner,  David  Bruce,  was 
now,  by  his  long  confinement  in  England,  become  well  known 
to  him,  and  he  doubted  not  that  by  some  agreement  with  the 
selfish  prince  he  might  secure  that  interest  in  Scotland  and 
its  government  of  which  the  people  were  so  jealous.  A  pre- 
liminary step  to  such  an  intrigue  was  the  delivery  of  David 
from  his  long  captivity,  and  the  establishment  of  peace  be- 
tween the  nations. 

By  the  final  agreement  between  the  commissioners  for 
each  kingdom,  October  3,  1357,  David's  ransom,  augmented 
since  the  last  treaty,  was  fixed  at  one  hundred  thousand 
marks,  to  be  discharged  by  partial  payments  of  ten  thou- 
sand marks  yearly.  The  nobles,  churchmen,  and  burgesses 
of  Scotland  bound  themselves  to  see  the  instalments  regu- 
larly paid ;  and  three  nobles  of  the  highest  rank,  who  might, 
however,  be  exchanged  for  others  of  the  same  degree  from 
time  to  time,  together  with  twenty  young  men  of  quality, 
the  son  of  the  steward  being  included,  were  surrendered  to 
England  as  hostages.  Thus  was  David  restored  to  freedom, 
eleven  years  after  having  been  made  prisoner  at  the  battle  of 
Neville's  Cross.  The  terms,  on  the  whole,  were  rather  more 
severe  than  those  proposed  three  years  before,  when  the  treaty 
was  broken  off  by  the  interest  of  France. 

The  first  thing,  after  his  return,  which  marked  the  ten- 
dency of  David's  political  feelings  and  attachments  was  his 
predilection  for  visits  to  England,  and  long  residences  there, 
which  became  so  frequent  as  to  excite  a  feeling  among  his 
subjects  that  they  did  but  waste  their  substance  in  need- 
lessly ransoming  a  sovereign  who  preferred  the  land  of  his 
captivity  to  his  own  dominions.  A  trifling  incident,  also, 
occurred  soon  after  his  liberation,  which  manifested  an  arro- 
gant, vain,  and  unfeeling  temper.  As  the  people,  eager  to 
see  their  long-absent  king,  pressed  into  his  presence  with 
more  affection  than  reverence,  David  snatched  a  mace  from 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  227 

an  attendant,  and  laying  about  him  with  his  own  royal 
hand,  taught  his  liege  subjects  in  future  to  put  their  loyal 
feelings  under  more  ceremonial  restraint. 

A  species  of  intimacy,  in  which  Edward  trusted  to  find 
his  advantage,  was  now  encouraged  between  his  dominions 
and  Scotland.  Licenses  were  given  to  traders,  to  pilgrims, 
natives  of  both  countries,  to  youth  of  quality  desirous  of  re- 
ceiving education  at  the  English  universities,  to  all,  in  short, 
who  could  allege  a  reasonable  cause  for  visiting  the  English 
dominions.  The  Scottish  nobles  were  welcomed  when  they 
visited  the  English  court.  This  liberal  line  of  conduct  was 
no  doubt  designed  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of  the  Scots  with  the 
superior  wealth  and  splendor  of  their  powerful  neighbors; 
and  to  engage  them  in  such  friendly  transactions  and  rela- 
tions as  might  smooth  down  the  prejudices  which  had  been 
the  natural  growth  of  so  many  years'  war.  All  these  were 
fair  and  laudable  objects;  but  the  king  of  England  sought 
them  with  a  sinister  and  selfish  purpose. 

The  weakness  of  David,  who  had  shown  himself  willing, 
would  his  subjects  have  permitted  him,  to  sacrifice  to  Ed- 
ward the  independence  of  Scotland,  by  acknowledging  him 
as  lord  paramount,  had  encouraged  the  king  of  England  to 
propose  that,  in  place  of  the  steward  of  Scotland,  the  grand- 
son of  Robert  Bruce  by  his  daughter  Marjory,  Lionel,  duke 
of  Clarence,  the  third  son  of  Edward  III.  himself,  should  be 
called  to  succeed  to  the  crown  of  Scotland.  This  project 
seems  to  have  been  kept  closely  concealed  from  the  Scottish 
nation  at  large  until  the  month  of  March,  1363,  when  David 
Bruce  ventured  to  bring  it  himself  before  the  estates  of  the 
Scottish  parliament,  convoked  to  meet  at  Scone.  The  king 
of  Scotland  had  lately  become  a  widower,  by  the  death  of 
Queen  Joanna,  during  one  of  her  visits  to  England.  This 
makes  it  seem  more  extraordinary  that  he  should  desire  the 
substitution  of  an  English  prince  in  the  succession  of  the 
crown,  since  David  might  justly  have  apprehended  that  if, 
in  the  case  of  probable  events,  he  himself  might  marry  again 
and  have  children,  the  king  of  England  would  not  have 


228  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

brooked  to  see  the  hope  of  his  son's  succession  blighted, 
even  by  the  birth  of  heirs  of  his  own  body.  Undeterred  by 
this  motive,  powerful  as  it  might  be  thought,  David  Bruce 
proposed  to  the  estates  of  Scotland,  "that,  in  the  event  of 
his  dying  without  heirs,  they  should  settle  the  crown  on  one 
of  the  sons  of  the  king  of  England.  He  particularly  recom- 
mended the  Duke  Lionel  of  Clarence  as  a  worthy  object  of 
their  choice,  hinted  that  this  would  insure  a  constant  peace 
between  the  two  nations  of  Britain,  and  become  the  means 
to  induce  the  king  of  England  to  resign,  formally  and  for- 
ever, all  pretensions  to  the  feudal  supremacy  which  had  been 
the  cause  of  such  fatal  struggles." 

The  estates  of  Scotland  listened  with  sorrow  and  indigna- 
tion to  such  a  proposition,  coming  as  it  did  from  the  lips  of 
their  sovereign,  the  son  of  the  heroic  Robert  Bruce.  In- 
stantly and  unanimously  they  replied,  "that  they  would 
never  permit  an  Englishman  to  rule  over  them;  that,  by 
solemn  acts  of  settlement  sworn  to  in  parliament,  the  steward 
of  Scotland  was  called  to  the  crown  in  default  of  the  present 
king  or  issue  of  his  body;  that  he  was  a  brave  man,  and 
worthy  of  the  succession :  from  which,  therefore,  they  re- 
fused to  exclude  him,  by  preferring  the  son  of  an  alien 
enemy." 

King  David  received,  doubtless,  this  blunt  refusal,  which 
necessarily  inferred  a  severe  personal  reproach,  with  shame 
and  mortification,  but  made  no  reply;  and  the  parliament, 
passing  to  other  matters,  appointed  commissioners  to  labor 
at  the  great  work  of  converting  the  present  precarious  truce 
between  England  and  Scotland  into  a  steady  and  permanent 
peace. 

But  the  proposal  of  altering  the  destination  of  the  crown, 
although  apparently  passed  from  or  withdrawn,  remained 
tenaciously  rooted  in  the  minds  of  those  whose  interests  had 
been  assailed  by  it.  The  steward  and  his  sons,  with  many 
of  his  kindred,  the  Earls  of  March,  Douglas,  and  other 
southern  barons,  assumed  arms,  and  entered  into  bonds  or 
leagues  to  prevent,  they  said,  the  alteration  of  the  order  of 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  229 

succession  as  fixed  in  the  days  of  Bruce.  The  king  armed 
in  his  turn,  not,  as  he  alleged,  to  enforce  an  alteration  of 
the  succession,  but  to  restore  good  order,  and  compel  the 
associated  lords  to  lay  down  their  arms,  in  which  he  was 
successful.  The  steward  and  his  associates  submitted  them- 
selves, awed  by  the  unexpected  spirit  displayed  by  the  king, 
and  the  numerous  party  which  continued  to  adhere  to  him. 
Stewart  himself,  together  with  Douglas,  March,  and  others 
associated  in  the  league,  were  contented  to  renounce  the  ob- 
ligation in  open  parliament,  convened  at  Tnchmurdoch,  May 
14,  1363.  The  steward,  upon  the  same  occasion,  swore  oil 
the  Gospels  true  liegedom  and  fealty  to  David,  under  the 
penalty  of  forfeiting  not  only  his  own  life  and  lands,  but 
his  and  his  family's  title  of  succession  to  the  throne.  In 
recompense  of  this  prompt  return  to  the  duty  of  a  subject, 
as  well  as  to  soothe  the  apprehensions  for  national  independ- 
ence which  the  proposal  of  the  king  had  excited,  the  right 
of  succession  to  the  throne,  as  solemnly  established  in  the 
steward  and  his  sons,  was  fully  recognized,  and  the  Earl- 
dom of  Carrick,  once  a  title  of  Robert  Bruce,  was  conferred 
on  his  eldest  son,  afterward  Robert  III. 

The  imprudent  David  had  hardly  ratified  the  proceedings 
of  the  parliament  of  Scone,  ere,  forgetful  of  the  danger  he 
had  lately  incurred,  he  repaired  to  London,  and  renewed 
with  Edward  III.  those  intrigues  which  had  for  their  ob- 
ject the  alteration  of  the  succession.  A  new  plan  was  now 
drawn  up  for  this  purpose,  at  a  conference  held  between  the 
two  kings  and  certain  selected  counsellors,  November  23, 
1368.  By  this  the  king  of  England,  Edward  III.,  was  him- 
self to  be  declared  heir  of  King  David,  in  case  the  former 
should  die  without  issue  male.  Twenty-seven  conditions 
followed,  the  object  of  most  of  which  seems  to  have  been 
to  reconcile  the  Scottish  people  to  the  sway  of  an  English 
monarch,  by  imparting  to  them  a  share  in  the  advantages 
of  English  trade,  by  ratifying  to  North  Britain  its  laws  and 
independence  as  a  separate  kingdom,  and,  above  all,  by  dis- 
charging the  ransom,  which  continued  a  heavy  burden  upon 


230  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Scotland,  of  which  only  a  tenth  part  had  been  yet  paid. 
The  national  pride  was  to  be  flattered  by  the  restoration  of 
the  fatal  stone  of  inauguration,  on  which  it  was  proposed 
that  the  king  of  England  himself  should  be  crowned  at 
Scone,  after  the  Scottish  manner.  All  claim  of  supremacy 
was  to  be  renounced,  and  the  independence  of  Scotland,  in 
Church  and  State,  was  carefully  provided  for,  together  with 
an  obligation  on  Edward,  when  he  should  succeed  to  the 
throne,  binding  him  to  use  Scottish  counsellors  in  all  the 
national  concerns  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  employ  native 
Scottishmen  in  all  offices  of  trust.  But  the  same  schedule 
of  articles  contains  a  clause  for  giving  the  English  king 
the  command  of  the  Scottish  national  and  feudal  levies ;  a 
condition  which  alone  must  have  had  the  consequence  of 
placing  the  country  at  Edward's  unlimited  disposal.  The 
minutes  of  this  conference  open  with  a  provision  of  strict 
secrecy,  and  a  declaration  that  what  follows  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  anything  finally  resolved  upon  or  determined, 
but  merely  as  the  heads  of  a  plan  to  be  hereafter  examined 
more  maturely,  and  adopted,  altered,  or  altogether  thrown 
aside  at  pleasure.  By  the  last  article  the  king  of  Scotland 
undertook  to  sound  the  inclinations  of  his  people  respecting 
this  scheme,  and  report  the  result  to  the  English  king  within 
fifteen  days  after  Easter.  It  is  probable  that  David,  on  his 
return  to  Scotland,  found  the  scheme  totally  impracticable. 
A  circumstance  of  personal  imprudence  now  added  to  the 
difficulties  by  which  King  David  was  surrounded.  In  1364, 
with  a  violence  unbecoming  his  high  rank  and  mature  age, 
he  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful  young  woman,  called  Cath- 
erine Logie,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Logie,  executed  for  acces- 
sion to  that  plot  against  Robert  Bruce  which  was  prosecuted 
and  punished  in  the  times  of  the  Black  Parliament.  The 
young  lady  was  eminently  beautiful ;  and  the  king,  finding 
he  could  not  satisfy  his  passion  otherwise,  gave  her  his  hand 
in  marriage.  This  unequal  alliance  scandalized  his  haughty 
nobles,  and  seems  to  have  caused  an  open  rupture  between 
David  and  his  kinsman  the  steward,  whose  views  to  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  231 

crown  were  placed  in  danger  of  being  disappointed,  if  the 
fair  lady  should  bear  a  son  to  her  royal  husband.  It  was 
probably  on  account  of  some  quarrel  arising  out  of  this  sub- 
ject of  discord  that  King  David  seems  to  have  thrown  the 
steward,  with  his  son,  the  Lord  of  Badenoch,  into  prison, 
where  both  were  long  detained. 

The  accomplishment  of  a  general  and  enduring  peace 
between  the  two  kingdoms  was  now  the  occupation  of  com- 
missioners. The  payment  of  the  ransom  of  David  was  the 
principal  obstacle.  The  first  instalments  had  been  discharged 
with  tolerable  regularity.  For  this  effect  the  Scottish  par- 
liament had  made  great  sacrifices.  The  whole  wool  of  the 
kingdom,  apparently  its  most  productive  subject  of  export, 
was  directed  to  be  delivered  up  to  the  king  at  a  low  rate, 
and  the  surplus  produced  over  prime  cost  in  disposing  of  the 
commodity  to  the  foreign  merchants  in  Flanders  was  to  be 
applied  in  discharge  of  the  ransom.  A  property  tax  upon 
men  of  every  degree  was  also  imposed  and  levied.  From 
these  funds  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  marks  had  been 
raised  and  paid  to  England.  But  since  these  payments  the 
destined  sources  had  fallen  short.  The  Scots  had  applied  to 
the  pope,  who  having  already  granted  to  the  king  a  tenth 
of  the  ecclesiastical  benefices  for  the  term  of  three  years, 
refused  to  authorize  any  further  tax  upon  the  clergy.  They 
solicited  France,  who,  as  her  own  king  was  unransomed  and 
in  captivity  in  England,  had  a  fair  apology  for  declining 
further  assistance,  unless  under  condition  that  the  Scots 
would  resume  the  war  with  England,  in  which  case  they 
promised  a  contribution  of  fifty  thousand  marks  toward  the 
ransom  of  King  David. 

Scotland  being  thus  straitened  and  without  resources,  the 
stipulated  instalments  of  the  ransom  necessarily  fell  into 
arrear,  and  heavy  penalties  were,  according  to  the  terms  of 
the  treaty,  incurred  for  default  of  payment.  Edward  acted 
the  part  of  a  lenient  creditor.  He  was  less  intent  on  pay- 
ment of  the  ransom  than  to  place  the  Scottish  nation  in  so 
insolvent  a  condition  that  the  estates  might  be  glad,  in  one 


232  HISTOEY    OF   SCOTLAND 

way  or  other,  to  compromise  that  debt  by  a  sacrifice  of  their 
independence.  He  could  not,  indeed,  use  the  readiest  mode 
of  compelling  payment  by  summoning  the  Scottish  monarch 
to  return  to  captivity,  without  depriving  himself  of  a  tract- 
able and  willing  agent  for  forwarding  his  views  in  Scotland, 
and  probably,  at  the  same  time,  throwing  that  country  into 
the  control  of  the  steward,  the  decided  enemy  of  English 
influence.  The  penalties  and  arrears  were  now  computed 
to  amount  to  one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  to  be  paid  by 
instalments  of  six  thousand  marks  yearly.  The  truce  was 
prolonged  for  about  three  years.  These  payments,  though 
most  severe  on  the  nation  of  Scotland,  seem  to  have  been 
made  good  with  regularity  by  means  of  the  taxes  which  the 
Scottish  parliament  had  imposed  for  defraying  them:  so 
that  in  1369  the  truce  between  the  nations  was  continued 
for  fourteen  years,  and  the  English  conceded  that  the  bal- 
ance of  the  ransom,  amounting  still  to  fifty-six  thousand 
marks,  should  be  cleared  by  annual  payments  of  four  thou- 
sand marks.  In  this  manner  the  ransom  of  David  was  com- 
pletely discharged,  and  a  receipt  in  full  was  granted  by 
Richard  II.  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign.  These  heavy 
but  necessary  exactions  were  not  made  without  internal 
struggles. 

The  northern  barons  and  Celtic  chiefs  were,  for  a  short 
time,  in  open  insurrection  against  payment  of  the  imposts; 
but  were  put  down  by  the  steadiness  of  the  parliament,  and 
one  of  those  starts  of  activity  into  which  the  indolent  but 
resolute  spirit  of  David  Bruce  was  sometimes  awakened. 
He  marched  into  the  northwest  against  John  of  the  Isles, 
and  reducing  that  turbulent  and  powerful  chief  to  subjec- 
tion, compelled  him  to  submit  to  the  tax  imposed  by  par- 
liament, and  exacted  hostages  from  him  for  remaining  in 
allegiance. 

Family  discord  broke  out  in  the  royal  family.  Catherine 
Logie,  the  young  and  beautiful  cneen,  was  expensive,  like 
persons  who  are  suddenly  removed  from  narrow  to  opulent 
circumstances.  She  was  fond  of  changing  place,  of  splendor 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  233 

in  retinue,  dress,  and  entertainment ;  perhaps,  being  young 
and  beautiful,  she  also  liked  personal  admiration.  David's 
passion  was  satiated,  and  he  was  desirous  to  dissolve  the 
unequal  marriage  which  he  had  so  imprudently  formed. 
The  bishops  of  Scotland  pronounced  a  sentence  of  divorce, 
but  upon  what  grounds  we  are  left  ignorant  by  historians. 
Catherine  Logie  appealed  to  the  pope  from  the  sentence  of 
the  Scottish  Church,  and  went  to  Avignon  to  prosecute  the 
cause  by  means  of  such  wealth  as  she  had  amassed  during 
her  continuance  in  power,  which  is  said  to  have  been  con- 
siderable. Her  appeal  was  heard  with  favor  by  the  pope; 
but  she  did  not  live  to  bring  it  to  an  issue,  as  she  died 
abroad,  in  1369. 

After  the  divorce  of  this  lady  by  the  Scottish  prelates,  the 
steward  and  his  son  were  released  from  prison,  and  restored 
to  the  king's  favor,  which  plainly  showed  by  what  influence 
they  had  incurred  disgrace  and  captivity. 

Little  more  remains  to  be  said  of  David  II.  He  became 
affected  with  a  mortal  illness,  and  died  in  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burg,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-seven,  and  in  the  forty-fifth 
year  of  his  reign,  February  22,  1370.  He  had  courage, 
affability,  and  the  external  graces  which  become  a  prince. 
But  his  life  was  a  uniform  contrast  to  the  patriotic  devo- 
tion of  his  father.  He  exacted  and  received  the  most  pain- 
ful sacrifices  at  the  hands  of  his  subjects,  and  never  curbed 
himself  in  a  single  caprice,  or  denied  himself  a  single  in- 
dulgence, in  requital  of  their  loyalty  and  affection.  In  the 
latter  years  of  his  life,  he  acted  as  the  dishonorable  tool  of 
England,  and  was  sufficiently  willing  to  have  exchanged, 
for  paltry  and  personal  advantages,  the  independence  of 
Scotland,  bought  by  his  heroic  father  at  the  expense  of  so 
many  sufferings,  which  terminated  in  ruined  health  and 
premature  death. 

The  reign  of  David  II.  was  as  melancholy  a  contrast  to 
that  of  his  father  as  that  of  Robert  I.  had  been  brilliant 
when  contrasted  with  his  predecessors.  Yet  we  recognize 
in  it  a  nearer  approach  to  civil  polity,  and  a  more  absolute 


234:  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

commixture  of  the  different  tribes  by  which  Scotland  was 
peopled  into  one  general  nation,  obedient  to  a  single 
government. 

Even  the  chiefs  of  the  Isles  and  Highlands  were  so  much 
subdued  as  to  own  the  allegiance  of  the  Scottish  king,  to 
hold  seats  in  his  parliaments,  and  resign,  though  reluctantly, 
much  of  that  rude  and  tumultuous  independence  which  they 
had  formerly  made  their  boast.  The  power  of  these  for- 
midable chiefs  was  much  reduced,  not  only  by  the  actual 
restraint  exercised  over  them  by  the  sovereign  and  his  lieu- 
tenants, often  at  the  head  of  an  armed  force,  but  by  the  less 
justifiable  policy  which  the  sovereign  is  said  to  have  exer- 
cised, of  stirring  up  one  chieftain  against  another,  and  thus 
humbling  and  diminishing  the  power  of  the  whole.  Still 
the  separation  of  the  Highlands  from  the  Lowlands  was 
that  between  two  separate  races;  and  though  the  king's 
sovereignty  was  acknowledged  in  both,  the  ordinary  course 
of  law  was  only  current  in  the  more  civilized  country,  and 
we  shall  presently  see  that  the  lords  of  the  Isles  gave  re- 
peated disturbances  to  the  Scottish  government.  The  na- 
tion, at  the  same  time,  became  more  like  that  with  which 
we  ourselves  are  acquainted.  A  few  great  families  can  in- 
deed trace  their  descent  from  the  period  of  Robert  Bruce; 
but  a  far  greater  number  are  first  distinguished  in  the  reign 
of  his  son,  where  the  lists  of  the  battle  of  Durham  contain 
the  names  of  the  principal  nobility  and  gentry  in  modern 
Scotland,  and  are  the  frequent  resource  of  the  genealogists. 
The  spirit  of  commerce  advanced  in  the  time  of  David  I. 
against  all  the  disadvantages  of  foreign  and  domestic 
warfare. 

In  the  parliaments  of  1368  and  1369  a  practice  was  intro- 
duced, for  the  first  time  apparently,  of  empowering  commit- 
tees of  parliament  to  prepare  and  arrange,  in  previous  and 
secret  meetings,  the  affairs  of  delicacy  and  importance  which 
were  afterward  to  come  before  the  body  at  large.  As  this 
led  to  investing  a  small  cabal  of  the  representatives  with 
the  exclusive  power  of  garbling  and  selecting  the  subjects 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  235 

for  parliamentary  debate,  it  necessarily  tended  to  limit  the 
free  discussion  so  essential  to  the  constitution  of  that  body, 
and  finally  assumed  the  form  of  that  very  obnoxious  institu- 
tion called  Lords  of  the  Articles,  who,  claiming  the  prelimi- 
nary right  of  examining  and  rejecting  at  their  pleasure  such 
measures  as  were  to  be  brought  before  parliament,  became  a 
severe  restraint  on  national  freedom. 

Amid  the  pestilence  and  famine,  which  made  repeated 
ravages  in  Scotland  during  this  unhappy  reign,  the  Scottish 
national  spirit  never  showed  itself  more  energetically  deter- 
mined on  resisting  the  English  domination  to  the  last.  Par- 
ticular chiefs  and  nobles  were  no  doubt  seduced  from  their 
allegiance,  but  there  was  no  general  or  undisturbed  pause  of 
submission  and  apathy.  The  nation  was  strong  in  its  very 
weakness;  for  as  the  Scots  became  unequal  to  the  task  of 
assembling  national  armies,  they  were  saved  from  the  con- 
sequences of  such  general  actions  as  Dunbar,  Halidon,  and 
Berwick,  and  obliged  to  limit  themselves  to  the  defensive 
species  of  war  best  suited  to  the  character  of  the  country, 
and  that  which  its  inhabitants  were  so  well  qualified  to 
wage. 

The  want  of  talents  in  the  sovereign,  and  the  effects  of 
his  long  imprisonment,  were  most  severely  felt  in  the  inde- 
pendence which  was  affected  by  the  Knight  of  Liddisdale, 
and  other  great  leaders  and  nobles,  who  committed  in  their 
feudal  strife  such  horrible  crimes  as  the  murder  of  Ramsay 
of  Dalwolsey,  Bullock,  Berkeley,  St.  Michael,  and  others. 
The  parliament  were  sensible  of  these  grievous  evils;  but, 
despairing  of  their  own  power  to  repress  them,  it  was  rather 
in  a  tone  of  entreaty  than  command  that  they  implored  the 
great  nobles  to  lay  aside  their  private  quarrels,  and  unite 
cordially  in  the  defence  of  their  common  country.  Many  of 
the  authors  of  such  evils,  who  had  enrolled  themselves  as 
members  of  the  estates,  joined  in  these  patriotic  remon- 
strances, and,  when  the  parliament  broke  up,  rode  home 
each  to  his  feudal  tower  and  waste  domains,  to  harass  his 
neighbors  with  private  war  as  before.  The  Scottish  parlia- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

ment  seems  never  to  have  failed  in  perceiving  the  evils  which 
afflicted  the  state,  or  in  making  sound  and  sagacious  regula- 
tions to  repress  them ;  but  unhappily  the  executive  power  sel- 
dom or  never  possessed  the  authority  necessary  to  enforce 
the  laws;  and  thus  the  nation  continued  in  the  condition  of 
a  froward  patient,  who  cannot  be  cured  because  there  is  no 
prevailing  upon  him  to  take  the  prescriptions  ordered  by  the 
physicians. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XV 

Accession  of  the  House  of  Stewart:  their  Origin — Robert  II.  and 
his  Family — Claim  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas:  it  is  abandoned — 
Defeat  of  the  English  near  Mel  rose — Wasteful  Incursions  on  the 
Border — John  of  Gaunt  negotiates  with  Scotland:  takes  Ref- 
uge there  against  the  English  Rioters — France  instigates  the 
Scots  to  renew  the  War — Inroad  by  John  of  Gaunt — John  de 
Vienne  arrives  with  an  Army  of  French  Auxiliaries — They  are 
dissatisfied  with  Scotland,  and  the  Scots  with  them — They 
urge  the  Scots  to  fight  a  pitched  Battle  with  the  English — The 
Scots  decline  doing  so,  and  explain  their  Motives — Invasion  of 
Richard:  it  is  paid  back  by  the  Scots — The  French  Auxiliaries 
leave  Scotland — The  Scots  menace  England  with  Invasion — 
The  Battle  of  Otterbourne — Robert,  Earl  of  Fife,  Regent — Truce 
with  England — Robert  II.  dies 

THE  genealogy  of  the  Stewart  family,  who  now  acceded 
to  the  throne  of  Scotland,  has  been  the  theme  of  many 
a  fable.  But  their  pedigree  has  by  late  antiquaries 
been  distinctly  traced  to  the  great  Anglo-  Norman  family  of 
Fitz- Alan  in  England ;  no  unworthy  descent,  even  for  a  race 
of  monarchs.  In  David  I.'s  time,  Walter  Fitz- Alan  held 
the  high  post  of  seneschal  or  steward  of  the  king's  house- 
hold ;  and  the  dignity  becoming  hereditary  in  the  family, 
what  was  originally  a  title  was  converted  into  a  surname, 
and  employed  as  such.  Walter,  the  sixth  high-steward, 
fought  bravely  at  Bannockburn,  defended  Berwick  with 
the  most  chivalrous  courage,  and  was  unanimously  thought 
worthy  of  the  hand  of  Marjory  Bruce,  the  daughter  of  the 
liberator  of  Scotland ;  and  to  their  only  child,  the  seventh 
lord  high-steward,  often  mentioned  during  the  last  reign, 
the  crown  descended,  on  the  extinction  of  the  Bruce's  male 
line  in  his  only  son  David  II. 


238  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

The  successor  to  the  crown  had  been  twice  married.  By 
Elizabeth  Mure  of  Rowallan,  his  first  wife,  he  had  his  son 
John,  created  earl  of  Carrick;  "Walter,  earl  of  Fife;  Robert, 
earl  of  Monteith,  afterward  duke  of  Albany;  and  Alexander, 
earl  of  Buchan.  No  less  than  six  daughters,  united  in  mar- 
riage with  the  most  powerful  families  in  Scotland,  assured 
their  support  to  the  succession  of  the  House  of  Stewart.  The 
new  king  was,  by  a  second  marriage  with  Euphemia,  daugh- 
ter of  the  Earl  of  Ross,  the  father  of  David,  earl  of  Strath- 
ern,  and  Walter,  earl  of  Athol.  Of  four  daughters  by  this 
second  marriage,  the  eldest  was  married  to  James,  earl  of 
Douglas,  and  the  other  three  also  wedded  into  ancient  and 
powerful  families. 

The  father  of  this  numerous  race  was  an  elderly  man, 
fifty-five  years  old,  with  an  infirmity  in  his  eyes,  which  ren- 
dered them  as  red  as  blood.  He  had  been  in  his  youth  a 
bold  and  active  soldier;  but  he  was  now  past  the  years 
of  martial  exertion,  and  obliged  to  delegate  to  others  the 
command  of  his  army.  He  had  the  virtues  of  a  pacific 
sovereign,  being  just,  benign,  clement,  and  sagacious. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas  threatened  the  tranquillity  of  the 
realm  by  a  claim  on  the  throne,  which,  however,  was  no 
sooner  made  than  abandoned,  upon  his  receiving  the  hand 
of  the  Princess  Euphemia  in  marriage.  Robert  II.  was, 
therefore,  inaugurated  at  Scone,  March  27,  1371,  with  the 
usual  ceremony.  As  the  Scots  continued  to  pay  the  ransom 
of  King  David  with  tolerable  regularity,  no  open  war  with 
England  was  entered  into  until  1378;  when,  after  mutual 
injuries  and  inroads,  it  broke  out  with  great  fury,  and  skir- 
mishes and  battles  of  a  destructive  rather  than  a  decisive 
character  took  place.  A  small  body  of  Scots  made  them- 
selves masters  of  the  citadel  of  Berwick;  but,  not  being 
supported  by  a  sufficient  force,  were  surprised  and  put  to 
the  sword.  In  a  fierce  encounter  near  Melrose,  the  English, 
under  the  command  of  Musgrave,  governor  of  Berwick,  were 
defeated  by  the  Earl  of  Douglas.  The  battle  was  decided  by 
the  personal  exertions  of  Archibald  Douglas,  who,  wielding 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  239 

with  ease  a  sword  which  an  ordinary  man  could  hardly  lift, 
broke  the  English  ranks  with  the  fury  of  his  blows.  The 
Scots  appear  to  have  had  the  better  in  this  species  of  pred- 
atory hostility,  their  borderers  being  very  numerous,  and 
the  best  qualified  in  Europe  for  irregular  war.  Their  rapine 
was  now  greater  and  greedier  than  usual ;  for  even  swine, 
which  they  used  formerly  to  spare  or  neglect,  did  not  now 
escape  them:  and  there  were  instances  of  their  driving  off 
forty  thousand  head  of  booty  in  a  successful  inroad.  They 
are  said  to  have  amused  themselves  by  playing  at  football 
with  the  heads  of  the  slain.  This  is,  perhaps,  an  exagger- 
ation; but  it  is  certain  that  their  ferocity  equalled  their 
rapacity.  They  were  led  also  by  a  Douglas,  whose  activity 
was  indefatigable.  He  surprised  the  town  of  Penrith,  in 
1380,  during  a  fair  that  was  held  there.  The  Scots  made  a 
great  booty,  and  gave  the  town  to  the  flames.  The  English 
were  also  defeated  in  Annandale,  where  the  borderers  of 
Cumberland  entered,  for  the  purpose  of  retaliating  these 
injuries. 

The  miseries  of  this  cruel  species  of  hostility  were  en- 
hanced by  a  contagious  disease  which  raged  on  the  English 
frontiers,  and  which  was  imported  into  Scotland  by  the 
reckless  borderers,  whom  even  the  pestilence  itself  could 
not  deter  from  spoil. 

In  the  ensuing  year  John  of  Gaunt,  the  celebrated  duke 
of  Lancaster,  marched  to  the  border  with  a  formidable  force, 
and  put  a  temporary  close  to  these  miseries  by  a  truce  for 
twelve  months,  which,  when  nearly  expired,  was  renewed 
for  the  same  period.  A  singular  occurrence  took  place  while 
this  last  treaty  was  negotiating.  The  insurrection  of  Wat 
Tyler  broke  out ;  and  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  against  whom, 
as  a  patron  of  the  followers  of  Wickliffe,  much  of  the  popu- 
lar fury  was  directed,  found  it  dangerous  to  return  into  Eng- 
land. Although  the  kingdoms  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  at 
peace  together,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  choose  Scotland  for  his 
temporary  place  of  refuge.  Nor  was  this  generous  confi- 
dence ill  requited.  Edinburgh  Castle  was  assigned  to  their 


240  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

princely  guest  and  his  retinue,  that  their  security  might  be 
safely  provided  for,  and  they  were  allowed  the  exclusive 
possession  of  this  important  fortress.  And  when  the  civil 
commotion  was  ended,  the  duke  returned  to  England  in 
security. 

France  beheld  with  anxiety  this  cessation,  brief  as  it 
was,  of  hostility  between  England  and  Scotland.  Toward 
the  latter  she  always  acted  as  a  civilized  colony  toward  some 
tribe  of  barbarians  in  their  neighborhood,  whose  passions 
they  animate  by  promises  or  bribes,  in  order  to  have  their 
assistance  in  war  with  a  powerful  neighbor.  On  the  present 
occasion,  as  a  diversion  on  the  English  frontiers  was  of  the 
utmost  consequence  to  their  success  at  home,  the  French 
government  instigated  the  Scots,  by  the  distribution  of  a 
large  sum  of  money,  and  the  promise  of  assisting  them  with 
an  auxiliary  force  of  a  thousand  men-at-arms  and  their  at- 
tendants, and  a  thousand  suits  of  armor,  to  suffer  the  truce 
to  elapse  without  renewal.  The  Scots  listened  to  the  temp- 
tation, and,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  the  old 
king,  who  was  pacifically  disposed,  they  resumed  hostilities 
at  the  end  of  the  truce. 

The  Duke  of  Lancaster  again  visited  the  frontiers ;  but  it 
was  for  the  purpose  of  punishment,  not  treaty.  He  marched 
as  far  as  Edinburgh,  plundering  the  country;  but  generously 
spared  the  city,  which  had  been  so  lately  his  place  of  refuge, 
and  retreated,  after  he  had  shown  both  his  power  and  his 
clemency.  Robert  II.  again  advised  peace;  but  he  could 
not  prevail  on  the  warlike  nobles  of  Scotland  to  accept  of 
its  blessings. 

In  1385,  France,  according  to  her  engagement,  sent  to 
Scotland  a  large  sum  of  money,  twelve  hundred  suits  of 
armor  complete,  with  all  appurtenances,  and  a  thousand 
men-at-arms,  with  their  followers,  which  may  be  estimated 
at  five  thousand  men  in  all,  forming,  according  to  Froissart's 
phrase,  a  complete  garland  of  chivalry,  and  commanded  by 
John  de  Vienne,  admiral  of  France,  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished warriors  of  the  day. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  241 

The  first  articles  of  this  importation  were  gladly  received 
in  Scotland,  where  ready  palms  were  found  to  receive  the 
gold,  and  limbs  as  prompt  to  bear  the  armor.  But  the  aux- 
iliaries themselves  had  but  a  cold  reception.  Of  this  the 
French  were  themselves  hi  part  the  cause.  Accustomed  to 
good  fare  and  comfortable  lodging,  they  were  surprised  at 
the  wretched  food  and  miserable  accommodations  with  which 
habit  and  necessity  had  made  the  Scots  familiar.  At  first 
they  treated  their  hardships  as  a  jest;  but  the  continuation 
of  such  a  rude  mode  of  living  wore  out  their  good-humor; 
and  their  allies  complained  that  when  they  had  furnished 
these  foreigners  with  the  best  which  their  means  afforded, 
they  were  only  requited  with  grumbling  and  murmurs.  The 
petulance  of  the  French  national  gallantry  also  gave  great 
offence;  for  even  their  general  was  so  inconsiderate  as  to 
make  love  to  a  near  relation  of  the  king,  to  the  scandal  and 
.indignation  of  the  Scots,  who  had  no  toleration  for  such 
unbecoming  license. 

Neither  were  the  French  chivalry  of  that  use  to  the 
Scottish  cause  which  had  been  expected.  The  Scots,  indeed, 
assembled  an  army,  and  marched  into  England,  where  they 
made  considerable  havoc;  but  as  the  spoil  was  collected  by 
what  was  called  pricking  or  skirmishing,  with  which  the 
borderers  were  better  acquainted  than  the  knights  of  France, 
it  is  probable  that  the  former  secured  the  greater  part  of  the 
booty.  John  de  Vienne  and  his  companions  might  have 
done  better  service  hi  sieges,  and  were  employed  for  that 
purpose  before  Roxburgh,  which  had  remained  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  English  since  the  battle  of  Durham.  The 
scheme  was,  however,  given  up  in  consequence  of  an  ex- 
travagant pretension  set  up  by  the  strangers  to  garrison 
and  hold  the  fortress  when  it  should  be  taken. 

While  the  French  and  then*  allies  were  thus  disputing, 
they  received  news  that  the  king  of  England,  Richard  II., 
was  advancing  with  a  large  army  for  the  purpose  of  invad- 
ing Scotland.  The  BVench  rejoiced,  in  expectation  of  a  gen- 
eral action,  in  the  event  of  which  they  anticipated  a  large 
11  <%  VOL.  I. 


242  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

share  of  glory  and  spoil.  But  the  Scottish  leaders  informed 
them  it  was  not  their  purpose  to  engage  the  English  force  in 
a  pitched  battle,  alleging  in  excuse  their  inferiority  in  num- 
bers, but  especially  in  the  size  of  their  horses  and  quality 
of  their  archers.  "All  that  may  be  true,"  answered  their 
allies;  "but  if  you  do  not  give  the  English  battle,  they  will 
destroy  your  country."  "Let  them  do  their  worst,"  said 
the  Scots;  "we  hold  them  at  defiance.  Our  gentry  will  re- 
move their  families  and  household  stuff;  our  cottagers  and 
laborers  will  drive  into  the  mountains  and  forests  their  herds 
and  flocks,  and  transport  thither  their  grain  and  forage,  even 
to  the  very  straw  that  covers  their  huts.  We  will  surround 
them  with  a  desert;  and  while  they  shall  never  see  an  enemy, 
they  shall  not  stir  a  flight-shot  from  their  standards  without 
being  overpowered  by  an  ambush.  Let  them  come  on  at 
their  pleasure,  and  when  it  comes  to  burning  and  spoiling, 
you  shall  see  which  has  the  worst  of  it." 

The  event  of  the  campaign  proved  as  the  Scots  had  antici- 
pated. The  English  army  advanced  into  the  Merse  and 
Lothian,  finding  a  country  totally  waste,  where  there  was 
nothing  to  plunder,  and  little  that  could  even  be  destroyed, 
excepting  here  and  there  a  tower,  whose  massive  walls  defied 
all  means  of  destruction  then  known,  or  a  cluster  of  miser- 
able huts,  which  a  few  days'  labor  could  easily  repair, 
should  they  take  the  trouble  to  ruin  them.  Making  a  shift 
to  maintain  themselves  by  provisions  from  a  fleet  which 
attended  their  movements,  the  English  army  advanced  to 
Edinburgh,  when  they  were  recalled  by  the  news  that  the 
Scots  had  invaded  Cumberland,  and  were  retaliating  with 
tenfold  fury  the  work  of  destruction.  And  such  was  the 
superior  wealth  of  England,  even  in  its  northern  provinces, 
that,  according  to  Proissart,  the  Scots  obtained  more  plun- 
der in  their  raid,  and  did  more  damage  to  their  enemies, 
than  the  English  could  have  inflicted  on  Scotland  had  they 
burned  as  far  as  Aberdeen.  Both  armies  retired  to  their 
own  country,  the  Scots  loaded  with  spoil,  the  English  reduced 
by  suffering,  and  the  French  execrating  a  species  of  warfare 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  243 

in  which  neither  gold  nor  glory  could  be  gathered.  They 
now  desired  to  leave  a  kingdom  which  they  despised  for  ite 
poverty  and  rudeness,  while  the  natives  upbraided  them 
with  their  effeminate  epicurism,  and  detested  them  for  the 
arrogance  of  their  pretensions  to  superior  bravery,  gallantry, 
and  civilization.  The  Scots  even  refused  to  permit  the  de- 
parture of  the  Frenchmen  until  John  de  Vienne,  their  com- 
mander, agreed  to  remain  as  a  hostage  that  the  French  gov- 
ernment should  pay  the  expenses  which  they  had.  incurred 
while  in  Scotland. 

Thus  parted  the  French  auxiliary  force,  in  poverty,  dis- 
appointment, and  mortification,  cursing  the  hour  they  had 
first  seen  a  country  so  sterile  as  Scotland,  or  a  people  so 
barbarous  as  its  natives. 

The  war  continued  to  rage ;  and  in  1388  the  Scots  thought 
they  had  a  proper  opportunity  to  retort  upon  the  English  the 
invasion  of  Richard  II.  A  large  army  was  assembled  at 
Jedburgh  for  this  purpose.  The  Earl  of  Fife,  second  son 
of  the  reigning  monarch,  was  commauder-in-chief ;  but  the 
hopes  of  the  army  rested  upon  James,  earl  of  Douglas,  a  man 
as  much  redoubted  as  any  who  ever  bore  that  formidable 
title.  The  assembled  leaders,  hearing  that  the  Northum- 
brians were  collecting  a  considerable  force  for  an  invasion 
of  Scotland,  resolved  that  their  main  body  should  not  ad- 
vance into  England,  as  had  been  originally  intended,  but 
that  a  select  detachment  under  Douglas  of  three  hundred 
men-at-arms,  who,  with  their  followers,  made  up  from  a 
thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  men,  with  two  thousand  chosen 
infantry,  should  invade  England. 

By  a  swift  and  secret  march,  Douglas  entered  Northum- 
berland, crossed  the  Tyne,  and  threw  himself  on  the  bishopric 
of  Durham,  where  he  wasted  and  destroyed  the  country  with 
fire  and  sword  as  far  as  the  gates  of  York.  In  his  return 
from  an  expedition  which  had  been  eminently  successful, 
he  passed  as  if  in  triumph  before  the  gates  of  Newcastle. 
In  this  town  lay  the  two  sons  of  the  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land, Sir  Henry  Percy,  renowned  by  his  nickname  of  Hot- 


244  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

spur,  with  his  brother  Sir  Ralph.  They  did  not  tamely 
endure  the  presence  of  their  hereditary  enemy ;  but  although 
they  had  not  sufficient  forces  to  give  Douglas  battle,  came 
forth  to  skirmish  with  the  Scottish  knights,  who  willingly 
met  them,  and  broke  many  spears.  A  personal  encounter 
took  place  between  the  Earl  of  Douglas  himself  and  Sir 
Henry  Percy,  in  which  Hotspur's  lance,  bearing  a  tuft  of 
silk  at  the  extremity,  embroidered  with  his  arms,  remained 
in  the  possession  of  the  Scottish  earl.  "This  trophy,"  said 
the  Scot,  "I  will  carry  to  Scotland,  and  place  it  on  the  high- 
est tower  of  my  castle  of  Dalkeith."  "That,"  said  Percy, 
"shalt  thou  never  do."  "Then,"  replied  Douglas,  "thou 
must  come  this  night  and  take  it  from  before  my  tent." 
He  then  resumed  his  march  up  the  river  Tyne,  and  encamped 
at  night,  expecting  that  Percy  would  come  to  challenge  his 
pennon.  Hotspur  was  only  withheld  from  doing  so  by  the 
report  that  Douglas  was  retreating  on  the  main  army  of 
Scotland,  and  that  he  might  find  him  united  with  the  Earl 
of  March.  But  when,  on  the  second  day,  he  heard  that 
the  Scottish  armies  were  yet  far  apart,  and  that  Douglas 
moved  slowly,  as  if  inviting  a  pursuit,  he  hastily  assembled 
about  six  hundred  lances,  who,  with  their  squires  and  fol- 
lowers, and  several  thousand  archers,  made  about  eight 
or  ten  thousand  men  in  all,  and  marched  westward  in  pur- 
suit of  Douglas. 

The  Scottish  earl  had  pitched  his  camp  at  Otterbourne, 
a  hamlet  in  Reedsdale,  and  its  lines  extended  east  and  west 
along  the  banks  of  the  river.  The  English  crossed  the  Reed, 
and  attacked  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy's  position,  which 
they  found  rudely  but  strongly  fortified,  and  well  defended. 
Douglas,  whose  plan  of  battle  had  been  previously  adjusted, 
continued  the  defence  of  the  barricade  till  he  had  led  his 
men  out  of  the  camp,  and  drawn  them  up  in  a  compact 
body,  but  with  a  changed  front,  for  his  line  of  battle  now 
stretched  north  and  south,  while  the  river  covered  one  flank, 
and  hills  and  morasses  protected  the  other.  At  the  same 
time  the  vale  of  the  Reed  behind  gave  an  avenue  for  retreat, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  245 

should  that  prove  necessary.  This  change  of  position  in  the 
commencement  of  the  action  argues  that,  besides  his  high 
character  of  chivalry,  Douglas,  as  a  general,  possessed 
science  beyond  what  we  might  esteem  the  tactics  of  his 
age.  In  the  meantime  the  English  were  something  disor- 
dered by  pressing  through  the  Scottish  camp,  and  it  had  the 
effect  in  some  degree  of  surprise,  when,  by  the  moon  of  a 
clear  autumn  night,  they  met  their  opponents  within  a  little 
distance.  The  battle  instantly  joined  with  loud  acclama- 
tions of  Percy  on  the  one  side,  and  Douglas  on  the  other. 
The  conflict  was  such  as  might  have  been  expected  between 
two  such  champions  and  their  followers.  At  length  the 
numbers  of  the  English  began  to  prevail,  when  Douglas, 
as  seems  to  have  been  the  wont  of  the  heroes  of  that  family, 
made  a  desperate  personal  effort.  He  rushed  on  the  foe, 
holding  his  battle-axe  in  both  hands,  and  clearing  his  way 
by  main  force.  His  bannerman  pressed  on  to  keep  up  with 
his  heroic  master.  At  length,  involved  among  the  English, 
and  far  from  his  followers,  Douglas,  despite  his  armor  of 
proof,  received  three  mortal  wounds.  But  the  impulse 
given  by  his  furious  advance  had  animated  the  Scots  and 
disheartened  the  English,  nor  did  either  army  know  the 
fate  of  the  Scottish  leader.  Several  Scottish  knights,  pur- 
suing their  advantage,  pressed  up  to  the  place  where  Doug- 
las was  lying  in  the  last  agony.  They  inquired  anxiously 
how  he  fared?  "But  indifferently, "  replied  the  earl:  "life 
is  ebbing  fast.  There  is  a  prophecy  in  our  house  that  a  dead 
man  shall  win  a  field,  and  I  think  it  will  be  this  night  accom- 
plished. I  fall  as  my  fathers  did,  who  seldom  have  died  in 
chambers  or  on  a  sick-bed.  Conceal  my  death;  raise  my 
banner;  cry  my  war-cry,  and  avenge  my  fall!"  The  Scot- 
tish leaders,  their  hearts  swelling  with  sorrow  and  desire 
of  revenge,  made  a  new  and  desperate  attack,  and  put  to 
flight  the  English,  who  were  already  staggered.  Both  the 
Percies  remained  prisoners,  and  with  them  almost  all  the 
Englishmen  of  condition  who  fought  in  this  celebrated  ac- 
tion, which  Froissart  assures  us  was  one  of  the  most  des- 


246  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

perate  in  his  time,  and  fought  with  the  most  heroic  bravery 
on  both  sides. 

The  bishop  of  Durham  arrived  the  day  after  the  battle 
with  seven  thousand  men ;  but  after  two  feints  to  attack  the 
victor,  he  shunned  to  encounter  the  enemy  by  whom  Hotspur 
had  been  beaten.  The  Scottish  detachment  rejoined  their 
own  main  body  in  a  procession  which  seemed  rather  that 
of  mourners  than  of  victors,  so  general  was  the  grief  for  the 
loss  of  their  leader. 

In  1 389,  the  king  of  Scotland  being  now  unequal  to  the 
fatigues  of  state,  from  which  he  absented  himself  as  much 
as  he  could,  Robert,  earl  of  Fife,  was  chosen  as  regent  of  the 
kingdom.  He  was  the  second  son  of  the  reigning  monarch, 
but  was  preferred  to  the  seat  of  government  in  the  place  of 
his  elder  brother,  John,  earl  of  Carrick,  because  the  latter 
was  infirm  in  his  person,  being  lamed  by  the  kick  of  a  horse, 
and  possessed  no  efficient  activity  of  mind  to  amend  the  want 
of  it  in  his  person. 

The  regent,  after  he  had  been  invested  with  his  office, 
showed  considerable  energy.  The  Earl  of  Nottingham, 
marshal  of  England,  trusted  with  the  wardenship  of  the 
east  marches,  had  reproached  the  Percies  for  their  defeat 
at  Otterbourne,  and  boasted  of  what  he  would  himself  have 
done  in  similar  circumstances.  But  when  the  regent  Robert, 
at  the  head  of  an  equal  army,  defied  him  to  action,  Notting- 
ham declined  the  combat  with  the  unsoldier-like  excuse, 
"that  he  was  not  commissioned  to  expose  the  king's  liege 
subjects  to  danger."  The  Scots  burned  Tynemouth,  and 
returned  to  their  own  country. 

In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  1389,  a  truce  of  three 
years  was  formed  between  France  and  England,  in  which 
Scotland  was  included  as  the  ally  of  the  former  power. 
Shortly  after  this  event,  King  Robert  II.  died  at  his  castle 
of  Dundonald  in  Ayrshire.  He  was  at  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy-five,  and  had  reigned  nineteen  years. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Accession  of  John,  Earl  of  Carrick — His  Name  is  changed  to  Robert 
IH. — The  State  of  his  Family — Feuds — Burning  of  Elgin — In- 
road of  the  Highlanders,  and  Conflict  of  Glascune — Battle  of 
Bourtree  Church — Combat  of  the  Clan  Chattan  and  Clan  Quhele 
— Prince  David  of  Scotland:  created  Duke  of  Rothsay:  exposed 
to  the  Misrepresentations  of  his  Uncle,  who  becomes  Duke  of 
Albany — Marriage  of  Rothsay — Scandalous  Management  of 
Albany:  breaks  Faith  with  the  Earl  of  March,  who  rebels — 
War  with  England — Invasion  of  Henry  IV. — The  English 
obliged  to  retire — Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Rothsay — Scots  de- 
feated at  Homildon — Contest  between  Henry  IV.  and  the 
Percies — Siege  of  Coklawis  or  Ormiston — Prince  James  sent 
to  France,  but  taken  by  the  English — Robert  III.'s  Death 

THE  character  of  John,  earl  of  Carrick,  eldest  son  and 
successor  of  Robert  II.,   has  been  already  noticed. 
He  was  lame  in  body  and  feeble  in  mind — well-mean- 
ing,  pious,   benevolent,    and  just;    but  totally  disqualified, 
from  want  of  personal  activity  and  mental  energy,  to  hold 
the   reigns   of   government  of  a  fierce  and  unmanageable 
people. 

The  new  king  was  invested  with  his  sovereignty  at  Scone 
in  the  usual  manner,  excepting  that,  instead  of  his  own 
name,  John,  he  assumed  the  title  of  Robert  III.,  to  comply 
with  a  superstition  of  his  people,  who  were  impressed  with 
a  belief  that  the  former  name  had  distinguished  monarchs 
of  England,  France,  and  Scotland,  all  of  whom  had  been 
unfortunate.  The  Scots  had  also  a  partiality  for  the  name 
of  Robert,  in  affectionate  and  grateful  remembrance  of 
Robert  Bruce. 

The  new  monarch  had  been  wedded  for  nigh  thirty-three 
years  to  Annabella  Drummond,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Drum- 


248  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

mond  of  Stobhall,  a  Scottish  lady,  whose  wisdom  and  virtues 
corresponded  with  her  ancient  family  and  exalted  station. 
By  this  union  he  had  one  son,  Prince  David,  a  youth  of 
eighteen  years  old,  whose  calamitous  history  and  untimely 
death  was  doomed  to  darken  his  father's  reign.  Five  years 
after  Robert  III.  had  occupied  the  throne,  the  queen  bore 
a  second  son,  named  James,  his  father's  successor,  and  the 
first  of  that  name,  afterward  so  often  repeated  in  the  royal 
line,  who  swayed  the  Scottish  sceptre. 

The  new  monarch's  first  attention  was  to  confirm  the 
truce  with  England,  and  renew  the  league  with  France;  so 
that  for  eight  years  the  kingdom  was  freed  from  the  misery 
of  external  war,  though  the  indolence  of  a  feeble  sovereign 
left  it  a  prey  to  domestic  feud  and  the  lawless  oppression 
of  contending  chiefs  and  nobles:  of  these  we  shall  only 
notice  one  or  two  marked  instances. 

In  1390,  ere  yet  the  monarch  was  crowned,  the  Earl  of 
Buchan,  Robert's  own  brother,  in  some  personal  quarrel 
with  the  bishop  of  Murray,  assembled  a  tumultuary  army 
of  Highlanders,  and  burned  the  stately  cathedral  of  Elgin, 
without  incurring  punishment,  or  even  censure,  from  his 
feeble-minded  sovereign,  for  an  act  which  combined  rebel- 
lion and  sacrilege. 

Two  years  afterward,  three  chieftains  of  the  Clan  Don- 
nochy  (in  Lowland  speech  called  Robertsons),  instigated  or 
commanded  by  Duncan  Stuart,  a  natural  son  of  the  turbu- 
lent Earl  of  Buchan,  came  down  to  ravage  the  fertile  coun- 
try of  Angus.  The  Grays,  Lindsays  and  Ogilvies  marched 
against  them  with  their  followers.  A  skirmish  was  fiercely 
and  wildly  fought  at  Glascune  in  Stormont.  An  idea  of  the 
Highland  ferocity  may  be  conceived  from  one  incident.  Sir 
Patrick  Lindsay,  armed  at  all  points,  and  well  mounted, 
charged  in  full  career  a  chief  of  the  Catherans,  and  pinned 
him  to  the  earth  with  his  lance.  But  the  savage  mountain- 
eer, collecting  his  strength  into  a  dying  effort,  thrust  him- 
self on  the  lance,  and  swayed  his  two-handed  sword  with 
such  force  as  to  cut  through  Lindsay's  steel  boot,  and  nearly 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  249 

sever  his  limb.  He  was  forced  to  retire  from  the  field,  on 
which  the  sheriff  of  Angus  and  his  brother  remained  slain, 
with  sixty  of  their  followers.  Sir  Patrick  Gray  was  also 
wounded;  and  the  mountaineers,  rather  victorious  than 
beaten,  though  they  had  lost  many  men,  retreated  to  their 
fastnesses  in  safety. 

The  feuds  of  the  Lowland  barons  were  not  less  distin- 
guished. Robert  Keith,  the  head  of  that  distinguished 
family,  besieged,  in  Fyvie  Castle,  his  own  aunt,  the  wife 
of  Lindsay  of  Crawford.  Lindsay  marched  with  five  hun- 
dred men  to  her  rescue.  He  encountered  Keith  at  Bourtree 
Church,  in  the  Garioch,  and  defeated  him  with  the  loss  of 
fifty  men.  To  use  a  scriptural  expression,  every  one  did 
what  seemed  right  in  his  own  eyes,  as  if  there  had  been 
no  king  in  Scotland. 

The  mode  by  which  the  government  endeavored  to  stanch 
these  disorders,  and  indirectly  to  get  rid  of  the  perpetrators 
of  outrages  which  they  dared  not  punish  by  course  of  justice, 
was  equally  wild  and  savage.  In  1396,  a  clan,  or  rather  a 
confederation  of  clans,  called  the  Clan  Chattan,  were  at 
variance  with  another  union  of  tribes,  called  the  Clan  Kay, 
or  Clan  Quhele.  Their  dispute,  which  the  king's  direct 
authority  was  unable  to  decide,  was  put  to  the  arbitrament 
of  a  combat  between  thirty  on  each  side,  to  be  fought  before 
the  king,  in  the  North  Inch  of  Perth,  a  beautiful  meadow 
by  the  side  of  the  Tay.  "When  they  mustered  their  forces, 
one  of  the  Clan  Chattan  was  found  missing ;  but  so  reckless 
were  men  then  of  life  that  a  citizen  of  Perth  undertook  to 
supply  his  place  for  half  a  mark  of  silver.  The  combat  was 
fought  with  infinite  fury,  until  the  Clan  Quhele  were  cut  off 
all  but  one  man,  who  escaped  by  swimming  the  Tay.  Several 
of  the  Clan  Chattan  survived,  but  all  severely  wounded. 

The  weak-minded  king  seems  to  have  carried  on  his  gov- 
ernment, such  as  it  was,  by  the  assistance  of  his  brother,  the 
Earl  of  Fife,  who  had  been  regent  in  the  latter  years  of  his 
father's  reign.  But  his  heir-apparent,  David,  being  a  youth 
of  good  abilities,  handsome  person,  young,  active,  and  chiv- 


250  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

alrous,  was  too  prominent  and  popular  to  be  altogether  laid 
out  of  view.  He  may  be  supposed  indeed  to  have  displayed 
some  of  the  follies  and  levities  of  youth,  which  were  mali- 
ciously insisted  on  by  his  uncle,  who  naturally  looked  on 
him  with  an  evil  eye;  yet  we  find  the  prince  employed  as 
a  commissioner,  along  with  the  Earl  of  Fife,  in  1399,  when 
they  met  on  the  borders  with  the  Duke  of  Lancaster;  and 
he  was  shortly  afterward  raised  by  his  father,  after  a  solemn 
council,  to  the  title  of  Duke  of  Rothsay.  At  the  same  time, 
to  maintain  some  equality,  if  not  an  ascendency,  over  his 
nephew,  Prince  David's  ambitious  uncle  Robert  contrived 
to  be  promoted  from  being  Earl  of  Fife  to  Duke  of  Albany. 
Under  their  new  titles  both  the  princes  again  negotiated  on 
the  English  frontiers,  but  to  little  purpose;  for  though  a 
foundation  of  a  solid  peace  would  have  been  acceptable  to 
Richard  II.,  who  was  then  bent  on  his  expedition  to  Ire- 
land, yet  the  revolution  of  1399  was  now  at  hand,  which 
hurled  that  sovereign  from  his  throne,  and  placed  there  in 
his  stead  Henry  IV.,  thus  commencing  the  long  series  of 
injuries  and  wars  between  York  and  Lancaster. 

Leaving  foreign  affairs  for  a  short  time,  we  can  see  that 
the  young  heir  of  the  kingdom  was  for  some  time  trusted  by 
his  father  in  affairs  of  magnitude.  "  Nay,  it  is  certain  that 
he  was  at  one  time  declared  regent  of  the  kingdom.  But 
Rothsay's  youth  and  precipitate  ardor  could  not  compete 
with  the  deep  craft  of  Albany,  who  seems  to  have  possessed 
the  king's  ear,  by  the  habitual  command  which  he  exercised 
over  him  for  so  many  years.  It  was  easy  for  him  to  exag- 
gerate every  excess  of  youth  of  which  Rothsay  might  be 
guilty,  and  to  stir  up  against  the  young  prince  the  suspi- 
cions which  often  lodge  in  the  bosom  of  an  aged  and  in- 
capable sovereign  against  a  young  and  active  successor. 

It  is  reasonable  to  think  that  the  affection  of  Queen  An- 
nabella,  who  had  and  deserved  the  esteem  of  her  husband, 
endeavored  to  sustain  her  son  in  the  tacit  struggle  between 
him  and  Albany.  It  was  by  her  advice  that  the  marriage 
of  the  young  prince  was  determined  on,  as  the  most  probable 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  251 

means  of  putting  an  end  to  his  irregularities.  The  advice 
was  excellent;  but  Albany,  getting  the  management  of  the 
affair  into  his  own  hands,  contrived  to  render  it  the  means 
of  injuring  his  nephew's  honor,  and  stirring  up  the  nobility 
to  feud  and  faction  against  the  prince  and  each  other. 

He  publicly  announced  that  the  hand  of  the  Duke  of 
Rothsay  should,  like  a  commodity  exposed  to  open  auction, 
be  assigned  to  the  daughter  of  that  peer  of  Scotland  who 
might  agree  to  pay  the  largest  dowry  with  his  bride.  Even 
this  base  traffic  on  such  a  subject  Albany  contrived  to  ren- 
der yet  more  vile  by  the  dishonest  manner  in  which  it  was 
conducted.  George,  earl  of  March,  proved  the  highest  offerer 
on  this  extraordinary  occasion,  and  having  paid  down  a  part 
of  the  proposed  portion,  his  daughter  was  affianced  to  the 
Duke  of  Rothsay.  The  Earl  of  Douglas,  envying  the  ag- 
grandizement which  the  House  of  March  must  have  derived 
from  such  a  union,  interfered,  and  prevailed  upon  Albany, 
who  was  perhaps  not  unwilling  to  mix  up  the  nuptials  of  his 
nephew  with  yet  more  disgraceful  circumstances,  to  break 
off  the  treaty  entered  into  with  March,  and  substitute  an 
alliance  with  the  daughter  of  Douglas  himself.  No  other 
apology  was  offered  to  March  for  this  breach  of  contract 
than  that  the  marriage  treaty  had  not  been  confirmed  by 
the  estates  of  the  kingdom;  and,  to  sum  up  the  injustice 
with  which  he  was  treated,  the  government  refused  or  de- 
layed to  refund  the  sum  of  money  which  had  been  advanced 
by  him,  as  part  of  his  daughter's  marriage-portion.  As  the 
power  of  the  Earl  of  March  lay  on  the  frontiers  of  both 
kingdoms,  the  bonds  of  allegiance  had  never  sat  heavily  on 
that  great  family,  and  a  less  injury  than  that  which  the 
present  earl  had  received  might  have  sufficed  to  urge  him 
into  rebellion.  Accordingly,  he  instantly  entered  into  a 
secret  negotiation  with  Henry  IV.,  and  soon  afterward  took 
refuge  in  England.  The  acquisition  of  such  a  partisan  was 
particularly  welcome  to  the  English  sovereign  at  this  period, 
as  will  appear  from  the  following  circumstances. 

Very  nearly  at  the  precise  period  (1399)  when  Henry  IV. 


252  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

made  himself  master  of  the  crown  of  England,  the  existing 
truce  between  Scotland  and  that  country  expired ;  and  the 
Scottish  borderers,  instigated  by  their  restless  temper,  made 
fierce  incursions  on  the  opposite  frontier.  They  sustained, 
however,  a  sharp  defeat  at  Fulhope-law,  from  Sir  Robert 
Umfraville,  in  which  many  of  their  principal  chiefs  were 
taken.  This  did  not  prevent  other  enterprises,  to  which  the 
condition  of  England,  convulsed  by  the  recent  change  of 
dynasty,  offered  but  too  many  temptations.  The  Scottish 
borderers  took  and  burned  the.  castle  of  Wark,  and  com- 
mitted great  inroads,  to  which  the  English  frontiers,  wasted 
by  a  raging  pestilence,  could  scarce  offer  the  usual  resistance. 

This  predatory  warfare  on  the  Scottish  frontier  was  in- 
stigated by  France,  although  she  did  not  herself  enter  into 
hostilities  with  England,  on  account  of  the  indisposition  of 
the  sovereign,  Charles.  At  this  period,  therefore,  the  acces- 
sion of  the  Earl  of  March's  assistance  was  an  event  of  great 
consequence  to  England,  and  proportionally  dangerous  to 
Scotland.  Henry  IV.  determined  to  chastise  the  Scottish 
depredators,  and  to  revenge  himself  on  the  Duke  of  Albany, 
who,  in  some  intercepted  letters,  had  described  him  as  a  pre- 
eminent traitor. 

In  1400,  Henry  therefore  summoned  the  whole  military 
force  of  England  to  meet  him  at  York,  and  published  an 
arrogant  manifesto,  in  which  he  vindicated  the  antiquated 
claim  of  supremacy,  which  had  been  so  long  in  abeyance, 
and,  assuming  the  tone  of  lord  paramount,  commanded  the 
Scottish  king,  with  his  prelates  and  nobles,  to  meet  him  at 
Edinburgh  and  render  homage.  Of  course  no  one  attended 
upon  that  summons,  excepting  the  new  proselyte  March,  who 
met  Henry  at  Newcastle,  and  was  received  to  the  English 
fealty.  But  if  Henry's  boast  of  subjecting  Scotland  was  a 
bravado  inconsistent  with  his  usual  wisdom,  his  warfare, 
on  the  contrary,  was  marked  by  a  degree  of  forbearance 
and  moderation  too  seldom  the  characteristic  of  an  English 
invader.  Penetrating  as  far  as  Edinburgh,  he  extended  his 
especial  protection  to  the  canons  of  Holyrood,  from  whom 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  253 

his  father,  John  of  Gaunt,  had  experienced  shelter,  and  in 
general  spared  religious  houses. 

The  castle  of  Edinburgh  was  gallantly  held  out  by  the 
Duke  of  Rothsay,  aided  by  the  skill  and  experience  of  his 
father-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Douglas.  Albany  commanded  a 
large  army,  which,  according  to  the  ancient  Scottish  policy, 
hovered  at  some  distance  from  the  English  host.  The  Scots 
had  wisely  resolved  upon  the  defensive  system  of  war  which 
had  so  frequently  saved  Scotland.  But  they  could  not  for- 
bear some  of  the  bravado  of  the  time.  The  Duke  of  Rothsay 
wrote  to  Henry  that,  to  avoid  the  effusion  of  Christian  blood, 
he  was  willing  to  rest  the  national  quarrel  upon  the  event  of 
a  combat  of  one,  two,  or  three  nobles  on  every  side.  Henry 
laughed  at  this  sally  of  youthful  vivacity,  and,  in  answer, 
expressed  his  wonder  how  Rothsay  should  think  of  saving 
Christian  blood  at  the  expense  of  shedding  that  of  the  no- 
bility, who,  it  was  to  be  hoped,  were  Christians  as  well  as 
others.  Albany  also  would  have  his  gasconade.  He  sent 
a  herald  to  Henry  to  say  that,  if  he  would  stay  in  his  posi- 
tion near  Edinburgh  for  six  days,  he  would  do  battle  with 
him  to  the  extremity.  The  English  king  gave  his  mantle 
and  a  chain  of  gold  to  the  herald,  in  token  that  he  joyfully 
accepted  the  challenge.  But  Albany  had  no  purpose  of 
keeping  his  word;  and  Henry  found  nothing  was  to  be 
won  by  residing  in  a  wasted  country  to  beleaguer  an  im- 
pregnable rock.  He  raised  the  siege  and  retired  into  Eng- 
land, where  the  rebellion  of  Owen  Glendower  soon  after 
broke  out.  A  truce  of  twelve  months  and  upward  took 
place  between  the  kingdoms. 

In  this  interval  a  shocking  example,  in  Scotland,  proved 
how  ambition  can  induce  men  to  overleap  all  boundaries  pre- 
scribed by  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  We  have  seen  the 
Duke  of  Rothsay  stoutly  defending  the  castle  of  Edinburgh 
in  1400.  But  when  the  war  was  ended  he  seems  to  have 
fallen  into  the  king  his  father's  displeasure.  The  queen, 
who  might  have  mediated  between  them,  was  dead.  Archi- 
bald, earl  of  Douglas,  was  also  deceased ;  and,  notwithstand- 


254  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

ing  their  connection  by  marriage,  there  was  mortal  enmity 
between  the  prince  and  a  second  Archibald,  who  succeeded 
to  that  earldom.  Trail,  bishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  a  worthy 
prelate,  who  had  often  mediated  in  the  disputes  of  the  royal 
family,  was  also  no  more.  The  Duke  of  Rothsay  was  there- 
fore open  to  all  the  accusations,  however  exaggerated,  with 
which  Albany's  creatures  could  fill  his  credulous  ears.  One 
Sir  John  de  Ramorgny,  who  had  been  the  prince's  tutor, 
appears  to  have  been  the  most  active  in  traducing  him  to 
his  father.  This  man,  it  is  said,  had  even  offered  to  the 
prince  to  assassinate  Albany,  and  being  repulsed  by  him 
with  abhorrence,  took  this  method  to  revenge  himself.  De- 
ceived by  malicious  reports  of  his  son's  wildness  and  indocil- 
ity,  the  simple  old  king  was  induced  to  grant  a  commission 
to  Albany  to  arrest  his  son,  and  detain  him  for  some  time  in 
captivity,  to  tame  the  stubborn  spirit  of  profligacy  by  which 
he  had  been  taught  to  believe  him  possessed. 

But  the  unnatural  kinsman  was  determined  on  taking  the 
life  of  his  nephew,  the  heir  of  his  too  confiding  brother.  The 
Duke  of  Rothsay  was  trepanned  into  Fife,  made  prisoner, 
and  conducted  to  Falkland  Castle,  where  he  was  immured 
in  a  dungeon,  and  starved  to  death.  Old  historians  affirm 
that  the  compassion  of  two  females  protracted  his  life  and 
his  miseries,  one  by  supplying  him  from  time  to  time  with 
thin  cakes  of  barley,  another  after  the  manner  of  the  Roman 
charity.  It  is  not  likely  that,  where  so  stern  a  purpose  was 
adopted,  any  access  would  be  permitted  to  such  means  of 
relief. 

The  death  of  the  prince  was  imputed  to  a  dysentery.  A 
simulated  inquiry  was  made  into  the  circumstances  by  a 
parliament,  which  was  convened  under  the  management  of 
the  authors  of  the  murder.  Albany  and  Douglas  acknowl- 
edged having  arrested  the  prince,  vindicating  themselves  by 
the  royal  mandate  for  that  act  of  violence,  but  imputed  his 
death  to  disease.  Yet  they  showed  a  consciousness  of  guilt, 
by  taking  out  a  pardon  in  terms  as  broad  and  comprehensive 
as  might  shroud  them  from  any  subsequent  charge  for  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  .  255 

murder  which  they  denied,  as  well  as  for  the  arrest  which 
they  avowed. 

The  truce  with  England  was  now  ended  (1402),  and 
Douglas  hastened  to  drown  in  border  warfare,  which  wag 
his  natural  element,  the  recollection  of  his  domestic  crimes. 
But  fortune  seemed  to  have  abandoned  him,  or  Heaven  re- 
fused to  countenance  the  accomplice  of  an  innocent  prince's 
most  inhuman  murder.  From  this  time,  notwithstanding 
his  valor  and  military  skill,  he  lost  so  many  of  his  followers 
in  each  action  which  he  fought  as  to  merit  the  name  of 
Tyne-man;  i.e.,  Lose-man. 

The  men  of  the  Merse,  influenced  by  the  exiled  Earl  of 
March,  no  longer  showed  their  usual  alacrity  in  making  in- 
cursions on  the  border ;  and  the  Earl  of  Douglas  applied  to 
the  landholders  of  Lothian  to  discharge  this  military  service. 
Their  first  raid  was  successful ;  but  in  the  second  they  were 
intercepted  by  the  Earl  of  March  and  a  large  body  both  of 
English  and  his  own  personal  followers,  at  a  place  called 
West  Nesbit.  Hepburn  of  Hales,  the  leader  of  the  Scots, 
was  slain ;  many  noble  youths  of  Lothian  were  also  killed 
or  made  prisoners. 

Douglas,  incensed  at  this  loss,  requested  and  obtained  a 
considerable  force,  under  command  of  Albany's  son,  Mur- 
dach,  earl  of  Fife,  with  the  Earls  of  Angus,  Murray,  and 
Orkney.  His  own  battalions  augmented  the  force  to  ten 
thousand  men,  and  spread  plunder  and  devastation  as  far 
as  the  gates  of  Newcastle.  But  Sir  Henry  Percy  (the  cele- 
brated Hotspur),  had  assembled  a  numerous  array,  and  to- 
gether with  his  father,  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and 
their  ally  March,  engaged  the  Scots  at  Homildon,  a  hill 
within  a  mile  of  Wooler,  on  which  Douglas  had  posted  his 
army.  Hotspur  was  about  to  rush  with  his  characteristic 
impetuosity  on  the  Scottish  ranks,  when  the  Earl  of  March, 
laying  hand  on  his  bridle,  advised  him  first  to  try  the  effects 
of  the  archery.  The  bowmen  of  England  did  their  duty 
with  their  usual  fatal  certainty  and  celerity,  and  the  Scottish 
army,  drawn  up  on  the  acclivity,  presented  a  fatal  mark 


256  .  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

to  their  shafts.  A  brave  knight,  Sir  John  Swinton,  like 
Graham  at  the  battle  of  Durham,  saw  the  disadvantage 
in  which  they  were  placed,  and  suggested  a  remedy.  "Let 
us  not  stand  here  to  be  shot  like  a  herd  of  deer,"  he  ex- 
claimed; "but  let  us  down  on  these  English,  engage  them 
hand  to  hand,  and  live  or  die  like  men."  Adam  Gordon, 
a  young  border  nobleman,  whose  family  had  been  long  at 
feud  with  that  of  Swinton,  heard  this  bold  exhortation,  and 
throwing  himself  from  his  horse,  renounced  the  deadly  quar- 
rel, and  asked  knighthood  of  his  late  foe:  "For  of  hand 
more  noble,"  he  exclaimed,  "may  I  never  take  that  honor." 
Swinton  knighted  him  with  the  brief  ceremony  practiced  in 
such  urgent  circumstances,  and  they  rushed  down  the  hill 
with  their  united  vassals.  But  too  weak  in  numbers  to 
make  the  desired  impression,  they  were  both  slain  with  all 
their  followers.  Douglas  himself  now  showed  an  inclination 
to  descend  the  hill ;  but  encountering  a  little  precipice  in  the 
descent  which  had  not  been  before  perceived,  the  Scottish 
ranks  became  confused  and  broken,  their  disarray  enabling 
the  archers,  who  had  fallen  a  little  back,  to  continue  their 
fatal  volley,  which  now  descended  as  upon  an  irregular 
mob.  The  rout  became  general.  Very  many  Scots  were 
slain.  Douglas  was  made  captive;  five  wounds  and  the 
loss  of  an  eye  showed  he  had  done  his  duty  as  a  soldier, 
though  not  as  a  general.  Murdach,  earl  of  Fife,  son  of  the 
regent,  Albany,  with  the  Earls  of  Murray  and  Angus,  and 
about  twenty  chiefs  and  men  of  eminence,  became  also 
prisoners. 

Great  was  the  joy  of  Hotspur  over  this  victory,  and 
great  the  pleasure  of  Henry  IV.  when  the  news  reached 
him.  Yet  fate  had  so  decreed  that  the  victory  of  Homildon 
became  the  remote  cause  that  the  monarch's  throne  was 
endangered,  and  that  Percy  lost  his  life  in  a  rebellious 
conspiracy. 

No  law  of  chivalry  was  more  certain  than  that  which 
placed  at  the  will  of  the  victor  the  captive  of  his  sword  and 
spear,  to  ransom  or  hold  him  prisoner  at  pleabure;  and  so 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  257 

much  was  this  rule  established  on  the  borders,  that  when  an 
English  or  Scottish  prisoner  was  taken,  nothing  was  more 
common  than  for  the  captor  to  permit  the  vanquished  to 
retire  from  the  field  of  battle,  having  first  promised  to  meet 
him  upon  a  day  fixed,  and  settle  with  him  for  ransom.  Nor 
was  the  consent  either  of  the  king  or  general  necessary  to 
this  kind  of  practice.  Nevertheless,  on  this  occasion,  Henry 
wrote  to  the  victorious  Percies,  commanding  them  not  to 
admit  the  important  prisoners  made  at  Homildon  to  be 
ransomed  or  delivered  without  his  special  consent.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  generously  bestowed  upon  the  earl  and  his 
son,  Sir  Henry  Percy,  the  whole  earldom  of  Douglas,  with 
all  the  territories  of  that  proud  family.  The  father  and  son 
regarded  the  first  proposition  of  the  king  as  an  injury;  and 
for  the  second,  being  the  grant  of  a  martial  tract  of  country 
which  was  yet  to  be  conquered,  they  deemed  in  their  hearts 
they  owed  the  king  no  gratitude.  At  the  same  tune  they 
received  them  both  with  seeming  satisfaction,  resolved  to 
make  the  conquest  of  the  earldom  of  Douglas  the  pretext 
of  assembling  forces  which  they  were  determined  to  employ 
very  differently. 

Accordingly,  in  June,  1403,  the  Percies  besieged  a  tower 
named  Coklawis,  or  Ormiston,  and  agreed  with  the  owner 
that  he  should  surrender  if  not  relieved  by  the  regent  of 
Scotland  before  Lainbmas.  Albany  upon  receiving  this 
intelligence  assembled  his  council,  and  asked  their  opinion 
whether  the  place  should  be  relieved  or  no?  All  the  coun- 
sellors, who  knew  the  duke's  poverty  of  spirit,  conceived 
they  were  sure  to  meet  his  wishes  when  they  recommended 
that  the  border  turret  should  be  abandoned  to  its  fate, 
rather  than  a  battle  should  be  hazarded  for  its  preserva- 
tion. The  regent,  well  knowing  the  secret  purpose  of  the 
Percies,  whose  forces  were  about  to  be  directed  against 
England,  took  the  opportunity  of  swaggering  a  little.  "By 
Heaven  and  Saint  Fillan,"  said  he,  "I  will  keep  the  day 
of  appointment  before  Coklawis,  were  there  none  to  follow 
me  thither  but  Peter  de  Kinbuck,  who  holds  my  horse  yon- 


258  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

der."  The  council  heard  him  with  wonder  and  applause; 
and  it  was  not  until  they  reached  Coklawis  with  a  consider- 
able army,  the  Scottish  nobles  learned  that  what  had  given 
this  temporary  fit  of  courage  to  their  regent  was  the  cer- 
tainty that  he  could  not  meet  Hotspur,  of  whose  death  and 
defeat  at  Shrewsbury  they  were  soon  after  informed.  The 
cowardice  of  the  heart  is  perhaps  better  learned  from  a  fan- 
faronade of  this  kind,  than  from  an  accidental  failure  of  the 
nerves  in  a  moment  of  danger.  Some  proposals  made  for 
peace  only  produced  a  feverish  truce  of  brief  duration. 

Meantime  Prince  James,  the  only  surviving  son  of  the 
poor  infirm  old  king,  being  now  (1405)  in  his  eleventh  year, 
required  better  education  than  Scotland  could  afford,  and 
protection  more  efficient  than  that  of  his  debilitated  father. 
Robert  III.  could  not  but  suspect  the  cause  and  circum- 
stances of  his  eldest  son's  death,  and  be  conscious  that  the 
ambition  which  had  prompted  the  removal  of  Rothsay  would 
not  be  satisfied  without  the  life  of  James  also.  The  youthful 
prince  was,  therefore,  committed  to  the  care  of  Wardlaw, 
bishop  of  Saint  Andrew's,  and  was  by  his  advice  sent  to 
France,  as  the  safest  means  of  protecting  him  from  his 
uncle's  schemes  of  treachery  or  violence.  He  was  embarked 
accordingly,  Henry  Sinclair,  earl  of  Orkney,  being  appointed 
as  his  governor.  A  considerable  number  of  Lothian  gentle- 
men, with  David  Fleming  of  Cumbernauld,  attended  him  to 
the  ship.  But  on  their  return  they  were  attacked,  for  what 
reason  is  unknown,  by  James  Douglas  of  Balveny,  uncle  to 
the  earl.  A  skirmish  took  place  on  Hermanston  Moor,  where 
Fleming  and  several  of  his  companions  fell. 

This  bloody  omen,  at  the  commencement  of  Prince 
James's  voyage,  was  followed  by  equally  calamitous  con- 
sequences. The  vessel  in  which  he  was  embarked  had  not 
gained  Flamborough  Head,  when  she  was  taken  by  an  En- 
glish corsair.  As  the  truce  at  the  time  actually  subsisted, 
this  capture  of  the  prince  was  in  every  respect  contrary  to 
the  law  of  nations.  But  knowing  the  importance  of  pos- 
sessing the  royal  hostage,  Henry  resolved  to  detain  him 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  259 

at  all  events.  "In  fact,"  he  said,  "the  Scots  ought  to 
have  given  me  the  education  of  this  boy,  for  I  am  an  ex- 
cellent French  scholar."  Apparently  this  new  disaster  was 
an  incurable  wound  to  the  old  king ;  yet  he  survived,  laden 
with  years  and  infirmities,  till  1406,  just  a  twelvemonth 
after  this  last  misfortune.  His  death  made  no  change  in 
public  affairs,  and  was  totally  unfelt  in  the  administration, 
which  continued  in  the  hands  of  Albany. 


260  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Regency  of  Robert,  Duke  of  Albany — Earl  of  March  returns  to  his 
Allegiance — A  Heretic  burned — Jedburgh  Castle  taken:  Tax 
proposed  for  Expense  of  its  Demolition:  the  Duke  of  Albany 
refuses  to  consent  to  it — Donald  of  the  Isles  claims  the  Earldom 
of  Ross — He  invades  the  Mainland — The  Earl  of  Mar  opposes 
him — Circumstances  of  the  Earl's  Life — Battle  of  the  Harlaw: 
its  Consequences — Intricate  Negotiation  between  Albany  and 
Henry  IV. — Hostilities  with  England — Death  of  the  Regent 
Albany 

THE  talents  of  Robert,  duke  of  Albany,  as  a  statesman 
were  not  such  as  in  any  degree  to  counterbalance  his 
crimes.  Yet  his  rule  was  not  unpopular.  This  was 
in  a  great  measure  effected  by  liberality,  or  rather  by  profu- 
sion, in  which  he  indulged  with  less  hesitation  as  his  gifts 
were  at  the  expense  of  the  royal  revenues  and  authority. 
The  clergy,  who  were  edified  by  his  bounties  to  the  Church, 
recorded  his  devotion  in  their  chronicles.  He  connived  at 
the  excesses  of  power  frequent  among  the  nobility;  solaced 
them  with  frequent  and  extravagant  entertainments;  and 
indulged  all  their  most  unreasonable  wishes  respecting  lands 
and  jurisdictions  at  the  expense  of  the  crown.  An  air  of 
affability  and  familiarity,  added  to  a  noble  presence  and  a 
splendid  attendance,  procured  the  shouts  of  the  populace. 
Although  timid,  the  regent  was  conscious  of  his  own  defect, 
and  careful  in  concealing  it.  He  was  intelligent  in  public 
business;  and  when  the  interest  of  the  country  was  identified 
with  his  own,  he  could  pursue  with  expedition  and  eagerness 
the  best  paths  for  attaining  it. 

"When  Robert  III.,  therefore,  died,  the  right  of  the  Duke 
of  Albany  to  the  regency  during  the  captivity  of  James  was 
universally  acknowledged. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  261 

His  government,  after  the  death  of  his  brother,  Robert 
III.  (1407),  commenced  with  a  show  of  prosperity.  He  re- 
newed the  league  offensive  and  defensive  with  the  kingdom 
of  France,  and  entered  into  negotiation  with  England.  In 
the  communings  which  ensued,  he  made  no  application  for 
the  liberation  of  his  nephew,  the  present  sovereign,  nor  was 
his  name  even  mentioned  in  the  transaction.  But  the  Earl 
of  Douglas,  whose  military  services  were  valuable  to  the  de- 
fence of  the  frontier,  was  restored  to  freedom,  having  been 
taken  at  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury,  where  he  had  fought  on 
the  side  of  Sir  Henry  Percy  with  his  usual  distinguished 
valor,  beating  down  the  king  of  England  with  his  own 
hand,  but  being  in  the  course  of  the  conflict  himself  made 
prisoner,  according  to  his  habitual  bad  luck.  George,  earl 
of  March,  had  rendered  Henry  IV.  effectual  assistance  dur- 
ing that  insurrection,  being  the  first  who  apprised  that  mon- 
arch of  the  conspiracy  against  him.  But  he  was  now  weary 
of  his  exile,  and,  disappointed  of  his  revenge,  returned  to  his 
allegiance  to  Scotland,  upon  restoration  of  his  estates.  These 
were  great  points  gained  in  reference  to  defence  upon  the 
border. 

In  1408,  Albany  had  also  an  opportunity  of  gratifying 
the  churchmen,  by  giving  over  to  their  vindictive  prosecu- 
tion one  Resby,  a  Lollard,  or  follower  of  Wickliffe.  He  was 
tried  before  Lawrence  Lindores,  as  president  of  a  council  of 
the  clergy ;  and  being  condemned  for  heresy,  and  chiefly  for 
disowning  the  pope's  authority,  suffered  at  the  stake  in  the 
town  of  Perth. 

The  truce  with  England  not  having  been  renewed,  hos- 
tilities were  recommenced  by  an  exploit  of  the  warlike  in- 
habitants of  Teviotdale,  who,  vexed  by  the  English  garri- 
son which  had  retained  the  important  castle  of  Jedburgh, 
stormed  and  took  that  strong  fortress.  It  was  resolved  in 
parliament  that  it  should  be  destroyed;  but  as  the  walls 
were  extensive  and  very  strongly  built,  and  the  use  of  gun- 
powder hi  mining  was  not  yet  understood,  it  was  proposed 
that  a  tax  of  two  pennies  should  be  imposed  on  each  hearth 


262  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

in  Scotland  to  maintain  the  laborers  employed  in  the  task. 
The  regent's  love  of  popularity  instantly  displayed  itself. 
He  declared  that  in  his  administration  no  burden  should  be 
imposed  on  the  poor,  and  caused  the  expense  to  be  defrayed 
out  of  the  royal  revenue.  The  truce  with  England  was 
afterward  renewed.  In  the  ratification  of  it,  Albany  styled 
himself  regent  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  used  the  phrase 
"our  subjects  of  Scotland,"  not  satisfied,  it  would  seem, 
with  delegated  authority. 

In  the  meantime,  a  contest  of  the  most  serious  nature 
arose  between  the  Celtic  and  the  Lowland  or  Saxon  popula- 
tion of  Scotland. 

The  lords  of  the  Isles,  during  the  utter  confusion  which 
extended  through  Scotland  during  the  regency,  had  found  it 
easy  to  reassume  that  independence  of  which  they  had  been 
deprived  during  the  vigorous  reign  of  Robert  Bruce.  They 
possessed  a  fleet,  with  which  they  harassed  the  mainland  at 
pleasure;  and  Donald,  who  now  held  that  insular  lordship, 
ranked  himself  among  the  allies  of  England,  and  made  peace 
and  war  as  an  independent  sovereign.  The  regent  had  taken 
no  steps  to  reduce  this  kinglet  to  obedience,  and  would  prob- 
ably have  shunned  engaging  in  a  task  so  arduous,  had  not 
Donald  insisted  upon  pretensions  to  the  earldom  of  Ross, 
occupying  a  great  extent  in  the  northwest  of  Scotland,  in- 
cluding the  large  Isle  of  Skye,  and  lying  adjacent  to,  and 
connected  with,  his  own  insular  dominions. 

His  claim  stood  thus :  Euphemia,  countess  of  Ross,  had 
bestowed  her  hand  upon  Walter  Lesley,  who  became  in  her 
right  Earl  of  Ross.  They  had  two  children,  Alexander, 
who  succeeded  his  mother  in  the  earldom,  and  a  daughter, 
who  was  wedded  to  Donald  of  the  Isles.  Lesley  being 
dead,  his  widow  married  Alexander,  earl  of  Buchan,  a 
brother  of  the  regent ;  but  they  had  no  issue.  Alexander, 
earl  of  Ross,  made  a  second  connection  with  the  royal 
family  of  Stewart,  by  marrying  Isabel,  the  daughter  of  the 
Regent  Albany,  by  whom  he  had  one  child,  also  named 
Euphemia.  This  lady  had  expressed  her  purpose  of  retir- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  263 

ing  into  a  convent ;  and  it  was  understood  that  she  meant  to 
resign  the  Earldom  of  Ross,  which  was  her  own  undoubted 
right,  in  favor  of  her  maternal  uncle,  Alexander,  earl  of 
Buchan,  son  of  the  regent  by  his  second  marriage.  Such 
a  resignation  would  have  been  destructive  of  Donald  the 
Islander's  title  in  right  of  his  wife. 

Regarding  Euphemia,  retired  into  a  cloister,  as  dead  in 
law,  the  lord  of  the  Isles  determined  to  assert  his  right  by 
arms.  He  led  an  army  of  ten  thousand  Hebrideans  and 
Highlanders,  headed  by  their  chieftains,  into  Ross;  suc- 
ceeded in  seizing  the  castle  of  Dingwall ;  and,  not  satisfied 
with  this  success,  he  continued  his  desolating  march  as  far 
as  the  Garioch,  threatening  not  only  to  plunder  Aberdeen, 
but  to  ravage  the  low  country  of  the  Mearns  and  Angus  as 
far  as  the  margin  of  the  Tay. 

The  consequence  of  Donald's  succeeding  in  his  preten- 
sions must  have  been  the  loss  to  the  regent  of  the  earldom 
which  he  had  destined  to  one  of  his  own  family,  and  most 
serious  evils  to  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  since  it  would  have 
been  a  conquest  by  the  savage  over  the  civilized  inhabitants, 
and  must  in  the  sequel  have  tended  to  the  restoration  of 
barbarism  with  all  its  evils. 

Alexander  Stewart,  earl  of  Mar,  hastily  assembled  the 
chivalry  of  the  Lowlands,  to  stop  the  desolating  march  of 
Donald  and  his  army.  This  earl  was  himself  an  extraor- 
dinary person ;  and  his  life  was  such  a  picture  of  those  dis- 
orderly times  that  a  slight  sketch  of  it  will  better  describe 
them  than  many  pages  of  vague  and  general  declamation. 
He  was  natural  son  to  Alexander,  earl  of  Buchan,  second 
son  of  Robert  II.,  the  same  turbulent  chief  who  burned  the 
Cathedral  of  Elgin  ere  yet  his  uncle  Robert  III.  was  crowned. 
Educated  under  such  a  sire,  Alexander  became  himself  the 
leader  of  a  fierce  band  of  Catherans,  or  Highland  freebooters, 
and  in  that  capacity  aimed  at  raising  himself  by  violence  to 
rank  and  opulence.  He  proceeded  thus : — Sir  Malcolm  Drum- 
mond  of  Stobhill,  brother  of  Annabella,  the  queen  of  Robert 
III.,  had  been  surprised  in  his  own  castle  by  Highland  ban- 


264  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

ditti,  and  died  in  their  rude  custody.  Alexander  Stewart 
was  suspected  of  accession  to  this  violence,  and  these  sus- 
picions were  strengthened  when  he  suddenly  appeared  with 
a  body  of  armed  Catherans  before  the  castle  of  Kildrummie, 
the  residence  of  Isabel,  the  widow  of  the  murdered  Sir  Mal- 
colm Drummond,  countess  of  Mar  in  her  own  right.  The 
castle  was  stormed,  and  the  widowed  countess,  whether  by 
persuasion  or  force,  was  induced  to  give  her  hand  to  Alex- 
ander Stewart,  the  leader  of  the  band  who  took  her  mansion, 
and  in  all  probability  the  author  of  her  husband's  imprison- 
ment and  death.  A  few  weeks  after  their  marriage,  he 
conceived  the  lady  so  reconciled  to  her  lot  that  he  ventured 
to  repossess  her  in  her  castle,  with  the  furniture,  title-deeds, 
etc.,  and  coming  himself  before  the  gates,  humbly  rendered 
her  the  keys,  in  token  that  the  whole  was  at  her  disposal. 
The  issue,  which  Stewart  had  probably  been  previously  well 
assured  of,  was,  that  the  lady  received  him  kindly,  and  of 
her  own  free  will,  and  the  good  favor  which  she  bore  to* him, 
accepted  of  him  as  her  husband,  after  which  he  took  the  title 
and  assumed  the  power  and  possessions  of  the  earldom  of 
Mar  in  right  of  the  Countess  Isabel. 

Thus  exalted  above  his  trade  of  a  robber,  Stewart  showed 
by  his  subsequent  conduct  that  there  was  something  noble 
in  his  mind  corresponding  with  his  elevation,  which,  though 
accomplished  by  such  violent  means,  was  not  challenged 
daring  the  feeble  and  corrupt  regency  of  Albany.  He  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  the  exercise  of  feats  of  chivalry,  and 
engaged  in  many  tournaments  both  in  Scotland  and  Eng- 
land. At  length  his  restless  spirit  carried  him  abroad  in 
quest  of  fame.  The  Earl  of  Mar  was  distinguished  and  hon- 
ored for  his  wit,  virtue,  and  bounty,  at  Paris,  where  he  kept 
open  house.  From  the  court  of  Paris  the  earl  passed  to  that 
of  Burgundy.  At  this  time  the  bishop  of  Liege,  John  of 
Bavaria,  "a  clerk  without  the  external  behavior  of  one," 
was  in  danger  from  a  rebellion  of  his  insurgent  people,  and 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy  was  marching  to  his  assistance. 
Finding  himself  in  a  situation  where  fame  could  be  won, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  265 

Mar,  with  a  hundred  Scottish  lances,  chiefly  men  of  quality 
seeking  renown  and  feats  of  battle,  accompanied  the  duke's 
host.  As  the  battle  was  about  to  join,  the  Earl  of  Mar, 
seeing  two  strong  champions,  armed  with  battle-axes,  ad- 
vanced three  spears'  length  before  the  army  of  Liege,  com- 
manded his  banner  to  halt,  and  calling  to  his  squire,  John 
of  Ceres,  to  follow  him,  rushed  on  these  two  champions, 
who  proved  to  be  the  leaders  of  the  mutiny,  Sir  Henry  Horn 
and  his  son,  and  slew  them  hand  to  hand.  He  did  also  great 
actions  in  the  battle,  and  highly  exalted  his  own  name  and 
the  honor  of  his  country.  On  his  return  to  Scotland,  the 
fire  of  his  youth  having  now  subsided,  he  became  a  firm  sup- 
porter of  good  order,  to  which  his  early  exploits  had  been  so 
hostile,  maintained  some  regular  government  of  the  northern 
counties,  and  was  the  leader  to  whom  all  men  looked  up  as 
likely  to  arrest  the  course  of  the  lord  of  the  Isles.  It  was 
a  singular  chance,  however,  that  brought  against  Donald, 
who  might  be  called  the  king  of  the  Gael,  one  whose  youth 
had  been  distinguished  as  a  leader  of  their  plundering  bands, 
and  no  less  strange  that  the  islander's  claim  to  the  earldom 
of  Ross  should  be  traversed  by  one  whose  title  to  that  of  Mar 
was  so  much  more  challengeable. 

The  whole  Lowland  gentry  of  the  Mearns  and  Aberdeen- 
shire  rose  in  arms  with  the  Earl  of  Mar.  The  town  of 
Aberdeen  sent  out  a  gallant  body  of  citizens  under  Sir  Rob- 
ert Davidson,  their  provost;  Ogilvy,  the  sheriff  of  Angus, 
brought  up  his  own  martial  name  and  the  principal  gentle- 
men of  that  county.  Yet,  when  both  armies  met  at  Harlaw, 
near  the  head  of  the  Garioch,  July  24,  1411,  the  army  of 
Mar  was  considerably  inferior  to  that  of  Donald  of  the  Isles, 
under  whose  banner  the  love  of  arms  and  hope  of  plunder 
had  assembled  the  M'Intoshes  and  other  more  northern  clans. 
Being  the  flower  of  the  respective  races,  the  Gaelic  and  Saxon 
armies  joined  battle  with  the  most  inveterate  rage  and  fury. 
About  a  thousand  Highlanders  fell,  together  with  the  two 
high  chiefs  of  M' In  tosh  and  M'Lean.  Mar's  loss  did  not 
exceed  half  the  number,  but  comprehended  many  gentlemen, 
12  <%  VOL.  I. 


266  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

as  indeed  his  forces  chiefly  consisted  of  such.  The  provost 
of  Aberdeen  was  killed,  with  so  many  citizens  as  to  occasion 
a  municipal  regulation  that  the  chief  magistrate  of  that 
town,  acting  in  that  capacity,  should  go  only  a  certain  brief 
space  from  the  precincts  of  the  liberties. 

The  battle  of  Harlaw  might  in  some  degree  be  considered 
as  doubtful;  but  all  the  consequences  of  victory  remained 
with  the  Lowlanders.  The  insular  lord  retreated  after  the 
action,  unable  to  bring  his  discouraged  troops  to  a  second 
battle.  The  Regent  Albany  acted  on  the  occasion  with  a 
spirit  and  promptitude  which  his  government  seldom  evinced. 
He  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  new  army,  and  occupied 
the  disputed  territory  of  Ross,  where  he  took  and  garrisoned 
the  castle  of  Dingwall.  In  the  next  summer,  he  assembled 
a  fleet,  threatened  Donald  of  the  Isles  with  an  invasion  of 
his  territories,  and  compelled  him  to  submit  himself  to  the 
allegiance  of  Scotland,  and  give  hostages  for  his  obedience 
in  future.  The  battle  of  Harlaw  and  its  consequences  were 
of  the  highest  importance,  since  they  might  be  said  to  decide 
the  superiority  of  the  more  civilized  regions  of  Scotland  over 
those  inhabited  by  the  Celtic  tribes,  who  remained  almost 
as  savage  as  their  forefathers  the  Dalriads.  The  Highlands 
and  Isles  continued,  indeed,  to  give  frequent  disturbance  by 
their  total  want  of  subordination  and  perpetual  incursions 
upon  their  neighbors;  but  they  did  not  again  venture  to 
combine  their  forces  for  a  simultaneous  attack  upon  the 
Lowlands,  with  the  hope  of  conquest  and  purpose  of  settle- 
ment. 

Another  mark  of  the  advance  of  civilization  was  the 
erection  of  the  University  of  Saint  Andrew's,  which  was 
founded  and  endowed  under  the  auspices  of  Henry  Ward- 
law,  archbishop  of  Saint  Andrew's,  cardinal,  and  the  pope's 
legate  for  Scotland,  in  1411. 

In  his  intercourse  with  England  the  Regent  Albany  was 
very  singularly  situated.  His  most  important  negotiations 
with  that  power  respected  the  fate  of  two  prisoners — the  one 
James,  his  nephew  and  prince,  who  had  fallen,  as  already 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  267 

mentioned,  into  the  hands  of  Henry  IV.  by  a  gross  breach 
of  the  law  of  nations — the  other  being  the  regent's  own  son 
Murdach,  earl  of  Fife,  taken  in  the  battle  of  Homildon. 
Respecting  these  captives  the  views  of  Albany  were  ex- 
tremely different.  He  was  bound  to  make  some  show  of 
a  desire  to  have  his  sovereign  James  set  at  liberty,  since 
not  only  the  laws  of  common  allegiance  and  family  affection 
enjoined  him  to  make  an  apparent  exertion  in  his  nephew's 
behalf,  but  the  feudal  constitutions,  which  imposed  on  the 
vassal  the  charge  of  ransoming  his  lord  and  superior  when 
captive,  rendered  this  in  every  point  of  view  an  inviolable 
obligation.  At  the  same  time  his  policy  dictated  to  him  to 
protract  as  long  as  possible  the  absence  of  the  king  of  Scot- 
land, with  whose  return  his  own  power  as  regent  must  neces- 
sarily terminate.  For  the  liberation  of  his  son  Murdach, 
on  the  contrary,  the  regent  naturally  was  induced  to  inter- 
fere with  all  the  ardor  and  sincerity  of  paternal  feeling. 
The  nature  of  these  negotiations,  especially  of  the  first,  in 
which  the  Duke  of  Albany's  professions  and  the  tenor  of  his 
proposals  must  have  borne  an  ostensible  purport  very  differ- 
ent from  his  own  wishes,  naturally  gave  a  degree  of  mystery 
and  complexity  to  the  proceedings  of  the  regent  and  his 
intercourse  with  the  court  of  England.  The  very  manner 
in  which  James  is  described  in  these  proceedings  is  ambig- 
uous, and  does  not  convey  or  infer  the  quality  of  heir  to  the 
Scottish  crown,  the  power  of  which  was  for  the  time  exer- 
cised by  Albany.  He  is  termed  "the  son  of  our  late  lord 
King  Robert,"  which  is  far  from  necessarily  implying  his 
title  of  heir  of  Scotland,  since  either  a  natural  or  a  younger 
son  of  the  late  king  might  have  been  so  termed.  This  stud- 
ied ambiguity  seems  to  infer  that  Albany,  whose  ambition 
had  dictated  the  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Rothsay,  was  desir- 
ous to  clear  the  way  to  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  throne, 
which  he  only  occupied  at  present  as  the  delegate  of  another, 
whose  rights,  therefore,  he  was  disposed  to  keep  as  much 
out  of  view  as  possible.  Henry  IV.,  whose  own  road  to 
sovereignty  had  been  by  usurpation,  was  crafty  enough 


268  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

to  comprehend  the  feelings  by  which  the  Duke  of  Albany 
was  actuated,  and  took  care  to  throw  such  obstructions  in 
the  way  of  James  I.'s  return  to  his  dominions  as  might 
gratify  the  real  wishes  of  the  regent  Duke  of  Albany  without 
laying  him  under  the  necessity  of  speaking  out  too  plainly 
his  desire  to  protract  his  nephew's  captivity.  Another  and 
a  very  curious  subject  of  diplomatic  discussion  subsisted 
between  Henry  IV.  and  the  regent  of  Scotland. 

There  is  a  story  told  by  Bower,  or  Bo wrnaker,  the  con- 
tinuator  of  Fordun's  Chronicle,  which  has  hitherto  been 
treated  as  fabulous  by  the  more  modern  historians.  This 
story  bears  that  Richard  II.,  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  murdered  at  Pontefract  Castle,  either  by  the  "fierce 
hand  of  Sir  Piers  of  Exton,"  or  by  the  slower  and  more 
cruel  death  of  famine,  did  hi  reality  make  his  escape  by 
subtlety  from  his  place  of  confinement ;  that  he  fled  in  dis- 
guise to  the  Scottish  isles,  and  was  recognized  in  the  domin- 
ions of  the  lord  of  the  Isles  by  a  certain  fool  or  jester  who 
had  been  familiar  in  the  court  of  England,  as  being  no  other 
than  the  dethroned  king  of  that  kingdom.  Bower  proceeds 
to  state  that  the  person  of  Richard  II.  thus  discovered  was 
delivered  up  by  the  lord  of  the  Isles  to  the  Lord  Montgomery, 
and  by  him  presented  to  Robert  III.,  by  whom  he  was  hon- 
orably and  beseemingly  maintained  during  all  the  years 
of  that  prince's  life.  After  the  death  of  Robert  III.,  this 
Richard  is  stated  to  have  been  supported  in  magnificence, 
and  even  in  royal  state,  by  the  Duke  of  Albany,  to  have 
at  length  died  in  the  Castle  of  Stirling,  and  to  have  been 
interred  in  the  church  of  the  friars  there,  at  the  north  angle 
of  the  altar.  This  singular  legend  is  also  attested  by  another 
contemporary  historian,  Winton,  the  prior  of  Lochleven. 
He  tells  the  story  with  some  slight  differences,  particularly 
that  the  fugitive  and  deposed  monarch  was  recognized  by 
an  Irish  lady,  the  wife  of  a  brother  of  the  lord  of  the  Isles, 
that  had  seen  him  in  Ireland — that  being  charged  with  being 
King  Richard,  he  denied  it — that  he  was  placed  in  custody 
of  the  Lord  of  Montgomery,  and  afterward  of  the  Lord  of 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  269 

Cumbernauld — and,  finally,  that  he  was  long  under  the  care 
of  the  regent  Duke  of  Albany.  "But  whether  he  was  king 
or  not,  few,"  said  the  chronicler  of  Lochleven,  "knew  with 
certainty.  The  mysterious  personage  exhibited  little  devo- 
tion, would  seldom  incline  to  hear  mass,  and  bore  himself 
like  one  half  wild  or  distracted."  Serle  also,  yeoman  of  the 
robes  to  Richard,  was  executed,  because,  coming  from  Scot- 
land to  England,  he  reported  that  Richard  was  alive  in  the 
latter  country.  This  legend,  of  so  much  importance  to  the 
history  of  both  North  and  South  Britain,  has  been  hitherto 
treated  as  fabulous.  But  the  researches  and  industry  of  the 
latest  historian  of  Scotland  have  curiously  illustrated  this 
point,  and  shown,  from  evidence  collected  in  the  original 
records,  that  this  captive,  called  Richard  II.,  actually  lived 
many  years  hi  Scotland,  and  was  supported  at  the  publio 
expense  of  that  country. 

It  is  then  now  clear,  that,  to  counterbalance  the  advan- 
tage which  Henry  IV.  possessed  over  the  regent  of  Scotland 
by  having  in  his  custody  the  person  of  James,  and  conse- 
quently the  power  of  putting  an  end  to  the  delegated  govern- 
ment of  Albany  whenever  he  should  think  fit  to  set  the  young 
king  at  liberty ;  Albany,  on  his  side,  had  in  his  keeping  the 
person  of  Richard  II.,  or  of  some  one  strongly  resembling 
him,  a  prisoner  whose  captivity  was  not  of  less  importance 
to  the  tranquillity  of  Henry  IV.,  who  at  no  period  possessed 
his  usurped  throne  in  such  security  as  to  view  with  indiffer- 
ence a  real  or  pretended  resuscitation  of  the  deposed  Richard. 

It  would  be  too  tedious,  were  it  possible,  for  us  to  trace 
distinctly  the  complicated  negotiations  between  the  king  and 
regent.  Each  conscious  of  possessing  an  advantage  over  the 
other,  and  at  the  same  time  feeling  a  corresponding  encum- 
brance on  his  own  part,  endeavored,  like  a  skilful  wrestler, 
to  take  advantage  of  the  hold  which  he  possessed  over  his 
adversary,  while  at  the  same  time  he  felt  the  risk  of  himself 
receiving  the  fall  which  he  designed  to  give  his  opponent. 
These  two  crafty  persons,  standing  in  this  singular  relation 
to  each  other,  and  each  conscious  of  defects  in  his  own  title, 


270  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

negotiated  constantly,  without  being  able  to  bring  their 
treaties  either  to  a  final  close  or  an  open  rupture. 

The  death  of  Henry  IV.  and  the  accession  of  Henry  V. 
did  not  greatly  alter  the  situation  of  the  two  countries,  but 
were  so  far  of  advantage  to  Albany  that  he  obtained  the 
liberation  of  his  son  Murdach,  earl  of  Fife,  in  exchange  for 
the  young  Earl  of  Northumberland,  the  son  of  the  celebrated 
Hotspur.  This  youth  had  been  sent  into  Scotland  by  his 
grandfather  for  safety,  when  about  to  display  his  banner 
against  Henry  IV.  of  England.  Whatever  benefit  the  cap- 
tive monarch  of  Scotland  might  have  gained  by  such  a  host- 
age as  the  young  Percy  being  lodged  in  the  hands  of  his 
subjects  was  lost  to  him  by  the  regent  accomplishing  the 
exchange  between  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  and  his 
own  son. 

In  1417,  while  Henry  V.  was  engaged  in  France,  the 
Regent  Albany,  supposing  that  the  greater  part  of  the  En- 
glish forces  were  over-seas,  gathered  a  large  force,  and 
besieged  at  once  both  Roxburgh  Castle  and  the  town  of 
Berwick.  A  much  superior  army  of  English  advanced 
under  the  Dukes  of  Exeter  and  Bedford,  and  compelled 
the  regent  of  Scotland  to  raise  both  the  sieges,  with  much 
loss  of  reputation,  as  the  Scots  bestowed  on  his  ill-advised 
enterprise  the  name  of  the  Foul  Raid,  that  is,  the  dishonor- 
able inroad. 

The  war,  which  seemed  for  some  time  to  languish,  re- 
ceived some  interest  from  a  daring  exploit  of  Halyburton  of 
Fastcastle,  who  surprised  the  castle  of  Wark,  situated  upon 
the  Tweed.  Robert  Ogle,  however,  recovered  it  for  the  En- 
glish, by  taking  Halyburton  by  surprise  in  his  turn,  when, 
scaling  the  castle,  he  put  him  and  his  followers  to  the  sword. 

In  a  parliament  in  the  year  1419  the  Scottish  estates 
agreed  to  send  the  Dauphin  of  France,  now  hard  pressed 
by  the  victorious  Henry,  a  considerable  body  of  auxiliary 
troops,  under  the  command  of  the  regent's  second  son, 
John  Stewart,  earl  of  Buchan.  The  history  of  the  ex- 
pedition belongs  to  the  next  chapter. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  271 

This  was  the  last  act  of  Albany's  administration  which 
merits  historical  notice.  After  having  governed  Scotland 
as  prime  minister  of  Robert  I.  and  Robert  II.,  and  as  regent 
for  James  I.,  for  fifty  years,  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty 
and  upward.  The  Duke  of  Albany  as  a  statesman  was  an 
unprincipled  politician,  and,  as  a  soldier,  of  suspected  cour- 
age. As  a  ruler  he  had  his  merits.  He  was  wise  and  pru- 
dent in  his  government,  regular  in  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  merciful  in  the  infliction  of  punishment.  If 
Scotland  made  no  great  figure  under  his  administration, 
he  contrived  to  secure  her  against  any  considerable  loss. 
His  contemporaries  have  recorded  with  much  admiration 
Albany's  liberality  to  the  Church,  and  his  generosity  to 
the  nobles.  The  exercise  of  bounty  in  both  instances  was 
politically  so  essential  to  the  existence  of  his  government 
that  we  must  hesitate  in  the  present  age  to  record  his  mu- 
nificence as  virtue.  Were  it  not  for  the  cold-blooded  and 
detestable  murder  of  his  nephew,  the  Duke  of  Rothsay, 
which  stamps  his  character  with  atrocity,  ambition  and  its 
temptations  might,  perhaps,  be  in  some  degree  the  apology, 
as  it  certainly  was  the  cause,  of  the  faults  and  defects  of  his 
character. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Duke  Murdoch's  Regency — His  Character — A  Pestilence  in  Britain 
— The  Conduct  of  the  Regent's  Family — Treaty  for  the  Libera- 
tion of  James  I. — He  is  restored  to  his  Kingdom — Scottish 
Auxiliaries  in  France — Character  of  James  I. — Execution  of 
Duke  Murdach  and  his  Friends — Disorders  in  the  Highlands 
repressed — League  with  France,  and  Contract  of  the  Scottish 
Princess  with  the  Dauphin — War  with  the  Lord  of  the  Isles, 
and  his  Submission — Acts  of  the  Legislature — Donald  Balloch 
— Treaty  with  England — Proceedings  toward  the  Earl  of  March 
— War  with  England — Parliament  of  1436 — Conspiracy  against 
James — He  is  Murdered — Fate  of  the  Regicides 

URDACH,  earl  of  Fife,  already  repeatedly  named  in 
this  history,  succeeded  to  his  father  in  his  title  as 
Duke  of  Albany,  and  his  high  office  as  regent  of 
Scotland,  but  neither  to  his  lofty  ambition  nor  to  the  quali- 
ties of  craft  and  cruelty  which  supported  it.  He  is  every- 
where described  as  a  man  of  an  easy  and  slothful  character, 
who,  far  from  having  the  boldness  and  prudence  necessary 
to  rule  so  fierce  a  people  as  the  Scots,  seems  to  have  been 
unable  to  exert  the  authority  necessary  for  the  government 
of  his  own  family. 

The  evils  which  attended  the  feeble  and  remiss  govern- 
ment of  this  second  Duke  of  Albany  were  aggravated  by  a 
public  misfortune,  which  no  wisdom  or  energy  could  have 
prevented,  but  which,  nevertheless,  added  to  the  unpopu- 
larity of  the  regent,  it  being  the  custom  of  the  common 
people  to  censure  their  rulers  as  much  for  misfortunes  aris- 
ing purely  out  of  their  bad  fortune  as  for  those  which  flow 
directly  from  their  misconduct.  A  contagious  disease,  re- 
sembling a  fever  and  dysentery,  wasted  the  land  universally, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  273 

and  cut  off  many  victims.  Among  other  distinguished  per- 
sons who  died  of  this  disorder  were  the  Earl  of  Orkney, 
Lord  Douglas  of  Dalkeith,  and  George,  earl  of  March,  re- 
markable for  the  versatility  with  which  he  changed  sides 
between  England  and  Scotland,  and  not  less  for  the  good 
fortune  which  attended  his  banner,  on  whatever  side  it  was 
displayed. 

Murdach,  duke  of  Albany,  such  as  we  have  described 
him,  became  in  the  space  of  five  years  weary  of  exercising 
an  administration,  which  was  popular  with  no  man,  over  a 
disorderly  country,  wasted  by  pestilence  and  divided  by  the 
feuds  of  the  nobility.  He  determined  to  rid  himself  of  the 
responsibility  of  the  regency,  although  he  must  have  been 
internally  conscious  that  such  a  power,  though  difficult  and 
unsafe  to  wield,  could  not  be  resigned  without  much  danger. 
It  was,  perhaps,  a  sense  of  the  perils  to  which  he  might  be 
exposed,  if  called  by  the  king  to  account  for  many  years 
of  misrule,  his  father's  as  well  as  his  own,  which  made  him 
suspend  his  resolution  till  1423,  when  his  decision  is  said  by 
tradition  to  have  .been  precipitated  by  an  act  of  insolent 
insubordination  on  the  part  of  Walter,  his  eldest  son.  The 
regent  Murdach  had  a  falcon  which  he  highly  valued,  and 
which  his  son  Walter  had  often  asked  of  him  in  vain.  Exas- 
perated at  repeated  refusal,  the  insolent  young  man  snatched 
the  bird  as  it  sat  on  his  father's  wrist,  and  killed  it  by  twist- 
ing round  its  neck.  Deeply  hurt  at  this  brutal  act  of  disre- 
spect, Murdach  dropped  the  ominous  words,  "Since  you  will 
render  me  no  honor  or  obedience,  I  will  bring  home  one  who 
well  knows  how  to  make  all  of  us  obey  him."  From  this 
time  he  threw  into  the  long-protracted  negotiation  for  the 
freedom  of  James  a  sincerity  which  speedily  brought  it  to 
a  conclusion. 

Henry  V.  being  now  dead,  John,  duke  of  Bedford,  pro- 
tector of  England,  was  defending  with  much  skill  and  pru- 
dence the  acquisitions  which  his  brother's  valor  had  made 
in  France.  Occupied  with  this  task,  he  was  willing  to  use  a 
liberal  policy  toward  Scotland ;  to  restore  their  lawful  king, 


274  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

so  long  unjustly  detained;  having  formed,  if  possible,  such 
an  alliance  between  him  and  some  English  lady  of  rank  as 
might  maintain  in  the  young  monarch's  mind  the  feelings 
of  predilection  toward  England  which  were  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  a  long  residence  in  that  country  and  familiarity 
with  its  laws  and  manners.  He  thus  hoped  at  once  to  en- 
large James,  to  make  a  friend  of  him,  and  to  secure  England 
against  further  interference  on  the  part  of  Scotland  in  the 
wars  of  France,  where  the  army  of  auxiliaries,  under  the 
Earl  of  Buchan,  had  produced  a  marked  effect  upon  the  last 
campaigns.  And  here,  before  proceeding  further,  the  reader 
must  be  made  acquainted  with  the  exploits  and  the  fortunes 
of  the  body  of  Scotsmen  sent  to  support  the  dauphin,  in  the 
extremity  of  his  distress,  against  the  English  arms. 

The  little  army  consisted  of  from  five  to  seven  thousand 
men,  among  whom  were  numbered  many  lords,  knights, 
and  barons,  the  flower  of  the  Scottish  chivalry,  who  gladly 
embraced  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  fame  in  arms  under  a 
leader  so  distinguished  as  Buchan.  The  small  number  of  the 
Scots  made  them  willing  to  submit  themselves  to  the  rules 
of  discipline ;  and  whenever  that  leading  point  could  be  at- 
tained, their  natural  courage  has  displayed  itself  to  advan- 
tage. Their  first  exploit  was  at  Bauge,  a  village  in  Anjou, 
where  they  lay  along  with  a  small  body  of  Frenchmen.  The 
Duke  of  Clarence,  brother  to  Henry  V.  of  England,  had 
been  detached  to  invade  that  province,  and  had  just  sat 
down  to  .dinner  when  he  learned  that  he  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Scottish  auxiliaries.  "Upon  them,  gentlemen!"  said 
the  fiery  prince,  springing  from  table:  "let  the  men-at-arms 
instantly  mount  and  follow  me."  He  made  a  rapid  march 
to  surprise  the  Scots;  but  the  church  of  Bauge  was  garri- 
soned by  some  French,  who  made  a  gallant  defence,  giving 
the  Scots  time  to  get  themselves  into  order  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  River  Coesnon.  Bent  on  taking  them  at  advan- 
tage, Clarence,  at  the  head  of  the  men-at-arms,  rode  fiercely 
forward  to  possess  himself  of  the  bridge.  On  the  other  side, 
the  Scottish  knights  galloped  down  to  defend  the  pass.  Sir 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  275 

William  of  Swinton  distinguished  the  English  prince  by  the 
coronet  of  gold  and  gems  which  he  wore  over  his  helmet; 
and  meeting  him  in  full  course  unhorsed  and  wounded  him. 
As  Clarence  strove  to  regain  his  steed,  the  Earl  of  Buchan 
struck  him  down  with  a  mace,  and  slew  him.  Many  brave 
English  knights  were  slain:  the  Earl  of  Kent,  the  Lords 
Grey  and  Ross,  with  fourteen  hundred  men-at-arms,  were 
left  on  the  field.  The  Earls  of  Huntingdon  and  Somerset 
were  made  prisoners. 

In  reward  of  such  distinguished  service,  the  dauphin, 
now  king  of  France  by  the  title  of  Charles  VII. ,  created 
Buchan  high  constable  of  France,  and  conferred  upon 
Stewart  of  Darnley  the  lordship  of  Aubigny  in  France. 
Desirous  of  increasing  the  forces  by  which  he  had  acquired 
so  much  fame  and  honor,  the  Earl  of  Buchan  returned  to 
Scotland  to  obtain  recruits.  He  found  that  his  father-in- 
law,  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  with  the  license  assumed  by  men 
of  far  less  importance  than  himself  during  the  feeble  gov- 
ernment of  the  regency,  was  then  engaged  in  a  treaty  with 
Henry  V.  of  England,  whom  he  was  to  serve  with  two 
hundred  horse  and  as  many  infantry,  for  the  stipend  of 
two  hundred  pounds  a  year.  The  influence  of  Buchan 
disturbed  this  agreement ;  and  Douglas,  who  seems  to  have 
conducted  himself  during  the  whole  matter  like  an  inde- 
pendent prince,  instead  of  joining  the  English,  accepted  of 
the  Duchy  of  Touraine,  offered  to  him  on  the  x  art  of  Charles 
VII.  of  France,  and  engaged  to  bring  to  his  aid  an  auxiliary 
force  of  five  thousand  men. 

He  came  accordingly ;  but  the  bad  fortune  which  procured 
him  the  name  of  Tyne-man  (Lose-man)  continued  to  wait  on 
his  banners.  The  Scots  sustained  a  severe  defeat  at  Crevan. 
They  had  formed  the  blockade  of  that  place ;  but  were  sur- 
prised by  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  who  raised  the  siege,  by 
defeating  them  with  a  slaughter  of  nine  hundred  men. 

A  battle  yet  more  fatal  to  the  Scots  took  place  near  the 
town  of  Verneuil,  17th  August,  1424.  It  was  a  general 
action,  risked  by  the  king  of  France  for  the  relief  of  Yvry, 


276  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

besieged  by  the  English.  The  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  com- 
manded the  English,  and  whom  Douglas  had  called  in  de- 
rision John  with  the  Leaden  Sword,  advanced  to  meet  the 
enemy,  and  sent  a  herald  to  inform  the  Scottish  earl  he 
was  coming  to  drink  wine  and  revel  with  him.  The  Earl 
of  Douglas  returned  for  answer,  he  should  be  most  welcome, 
and  that  he  had  come  from  Scotland  to  France  on  purpose 
to  carouse  in  his  company.  Under  these  terms  a  challenge  to 
combat  was  understood  to  be  given  and  accepted.  Douglas, 
desirous  to  draw  up  his  forces  on  advantageous  ground,  pro- 
posed to  halt,  and  to  await  the  English  attack  on  the  spot 
where  the  herald  found  him.  The  Viscount  of  Narbonne, 
the  French  general,  insisted  on  advancing :  the  Scots  were 
compelled  to  follow  their  allies,  and  came  into  battle  out  of 
breath  and  out  of  order.  The  consequences  were  most  ca- 
lamitous; Douglas  and  Buchan  fell,  and  with  them  most  of 
their  countrymen  of  rank  and  quality,  so  that  the  auxiliary 
army  of  Scots  might  be  considered  as  almost  annihilated. 
The  corps  of  Scots,  long  maintained  as  the  French  king's 
bodyguard,  is  said  to  have  been  originally  composed  of  the 
relics  of  the  field  of  Verneuil.  And  thus  concluded  the  wars 
of  the  Scots  in  France,  fortunate  that  the  nation  was  cured, 
though  by  a  most  bitter  remedy,  of  the  fatal  rage  of  sell- 
ing their  swords  and  then-  blood  as  mercenaries  in  foreign 
service;  a  practice  which  drains  a  people  of  the  best  and 
bravest,  who  c  ght  to  reserve  their  courage  for  its  defence, 
and  converts  them  into  common  gladiators,  whose  purchased 
valor  is  without  fame  to  themselves  or  advantage  to  their 
country.  Individuals  frequently  continued  to  join  the  French 
standard,  in  quest  of  fame  or  preferment;  but,  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Verneuil,  no  considerable  army  or  body  of  troops  from 
Scotland  was  sent  over  to  France. 

"We  return,  after  this  digression,  to  consider  the  condition 
of  Scotland,  now  more  hopeful  than  it  had  been  for  a  length 
of  time,  since  she  was  about  to  exchange  the  rule  of  a  sloth- 
ful, timid,  and  inefficient  regent  for  that  of  a  king  in  the 
flower  of  his  age,  and  possessed  of  a  natural  disposition  and 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  277 

cultivated  talents  equally  capable  to  grace  and  to  guard  the 
throne. 

The  terms  on  which  the  treaty  for  the  freedom  of  James 
I.  was  at  last  fixed  were,  on  the  whole,  liberal  rather  than 
otherwise.  The  English  demanded,  and  the  Scots  agreed 
to  pay,  forty  thousand  pounds  sterling — not  as  ransom,  as 
the  use  of  that  obnoxious  phrase  could  not  apply  to  the  case 
of  an  innocent  boy  taken  without  defence  hi  time  of  truce, 
but  to  defray  what  was  delicately  termed  the  expenses  of 
Prince  James's  support  and  education.  Six  years  were 
allowed  for  the  discharge  of  the  sum  by  half-yearly  pay- 
ments. It  was  a  part  of  the  contract  that  the  Scottish  king 
should  marry  an  English  lady  of  rank;  and  his  choice  fell 
upon  Joanna,  niece  of  Richard  II.  by  the  mother's  side,  and 
by  her  father,  John,  duke  of  Somerset,  the  granddaughter 
of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  called  John  of  Gaunt.  To  this 
young  lady,  so  nearly  connected  with  the  English  royal 
family,  the  Scottish  captive  had  been  attached  for  some 
time,  and  had  celebrated  her  charms  in  poetry  of  no  mean 
order,  although  defaced  by  the  rudeness  of  the  obsolete  lan- 
guage. They  were  married  in  London ;  and  a  discharge  for 
ten  thousand  pounds,  the  fourth  part  of  the  stipulated  ran- 
som, was  presented  to  the  Scottish  king,  as  the  dowry  or 
portion  of  his  bride.  The  royal  pair  were  then  sent  down 
to  Scotland  with  all  respect  and  dignity,  and  Murdach,  the 
late  regent,  had  the  honor  to  induct  his  royal  cousin  into  the 
throne  of  his  forefathers. 

The  natural  talents  of  James  I.,  both  mental  and  cor- 
poreal, were  of  the  highest  quality ;  and  if  Henry  IV.  had 
taken  an  unjust  and  cruel  advantage  of  the  accident  which 
threw  the  prince  into  his  hands,  by  detaining  him  as  a  pris- 
oner, he  had  made  the  only  possible  amends,  by  causing  the 
most  sedulous  attention  to  be  paid  to  his  education.  In  per- 
son, the  king  of  Scotland  was  of  low  stature ;  but  so  strongly 
and  compactly  built  as  to  excel  in  the  games  of  chivalry,  and 
all  the  active  accomplishments  of  the  time.  He  was  no  less 
distinguished  by  mental  gifts,  highly  cultivated  by  the  best 


278  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

teachers  that  England  could  produce.  He  was,  according 
to  the  learning  of  the  day,  an  accomplished  scholar,  an  ex- 
cellent poet,  a  musician  of  skill,  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  science  as  practiced  in  "Wales,  Ireland,  and  Scotland, 
which  are  described  as  being  then  the  principal  seats  of 
national  music,1  with  a  decided  taste  for  the  fine  arts  of  archi- 
tecture, painting,  and  horticulture.  Nothing,  therefore, 
could  be  more  favorable  than  his  personal  character.  As 
a  prince,  his  education  in  England  had  taught  him  political 
views  which  he  could  hardly  have  learned  in  his  own  rude 
and  ignorant  realm.  His  ardent  thirst  of  knowledge  made 
the  acquisition  of  every  species  of  art  fit  to  be  learned  by 
persons  of  his  condition  not  only  tolerable,  however  laborious, 
but  a  source  of  actual  pleasure.  He  found  Scotland  in  the 
utmost  disorder,  and  divided  among  a  set  of  haughty  barons, 
whom  the  wars  of  David  II. 's  reign,  the  feebleness  of  those 
of  his  two  successors,  and  the  culpable  indulgence  of  two 
regencies,  had  rendered  almost  independent  of  the  crown. 
To  curb  and  subdue  this  stern  aristocracy,  and  to  secure 
general  good  order,  by  re-establishing  the  legitimate  au- 
thority of  the  crown,  was  a  difficult  and  most  dangerous 
task;  but  James  embarked  and  persevered  in  it  with  a 
courage  which  amounted  almost  to  rashness. 

Among  various  laws  for  the  equal  administration  of  jus- 
tice, for  obliging  the  nobility  to  ride  with  retinues  no  larger 
than  they  could  maintain,  for  discontinuing  the  oppressive 
exaction  of  free  quarters,  and  for  requiring  that  the  Scottish 
youth  should  be  trained  to  archery,  there  were  two  measures 
adopted  by  James  which  were  highly  unpopular.  The  first 
was  an  inquiry  into  the  extent  of  the  crown  lands  under 
the  last  three  monarchs.  The  object  of  this  was  to  examine 
into  the  dilapidation  made  of  the  crown  property,  during  the 
reigns  of  Robert  II.  and  III.,  and  the  two  regencies  of  the 

1  The  Irish  were  said  to  excel  in  two  instruments,  the  harp  and  the 
tabor;  the  Scottish  in  three,  the  harp,  the  tabor,  and  the  chorus  (i.e., 
the  cor  or  horn);  the  Welsh  also  delighted  in  three  kinds  of  music,  that 
of  the  pipes,  the  harp,  and  the  chorus  or  horn. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  279 

House  of  Albany.  But  by  these  preparations  to  reassert 
the  right  of  the  king  to  the  lands  which  had  been  alienated 
by  weak  monarchs  and  unfaithful  viceroys,  James  excited 
among  the  people  at  large  doubts  and  jealousies  concerning 
the  stability  of  property,  which  gave  rise  to  general  dissatis- 
faction. "With  these  was  combined  the  imposition  of  a  large 
subsidy  for  raising  the  sum  due  to  England  by  the  late  treaty, 
of  which  it  is  only  necessary  to  say  that  it  was  a  tax,  and 
was  therefore  unpopular;  and  the  more  so,  as  it  fell  on  a 
poor  country. 

The  records  of  this  reign  being  almost  entirely  lost,  we 
do  not  know  by  what  means  further  than  his  own  conscious- 
ness  of  talents,  and  the  command  over  others  which  such 
consciousness  necessarily  inspires,  the  young  king  was  able 
to  enforce  his  authority  in  a  kingdom  where  a  large  party 
were  leagued  together  by  mutual  interest,  to  support  the 
usurpations  which  had  been  made  on  the  crown  during  the 
space  of  more  than  twenty  years,  in  which  time  wrongful 
encroachment  had  attained  by  prescription  the  appearance 
of  lawful  right.  "We  are  only  aware  that  James  had  not 
been  on  the  throne  a  full  year  ere  he  began  to  visit  on  the 
House  of  Albany  the  wrongs  he  had  sustained  during  his 
long  imprisonment,  protracted  through  their  means,  and 
the  dilapidation  and  usurpation  exercised  by  them,  their 
favorites  and  allies,  over  the  rights  and  possessions  of  the 
crown. 

"Walter,  the  son  of  Duke  Murdach,  whose  brutal  insolence 
to  his  father  had  suggested  to  the  old  man  the  idea  of  bring- 
ing home  the  lawful  heir,  or  at  least  had  decided  him  to 
adopt  that  measure  so  much  fraught  with  hazard  to  hia 
family,  was  laid  under  arrest  shortly  after  the  king's  return. 
The  Earl  of  Lennox,  father-in-law  to  Duke  Murdach,  and 
Sir  Robert  Grahame,  a  man  of  peculiarly  fierce  and  daring 
temper,  were  next  made  prisoners.  But  on  the  12th  March, 
1425,  the  king  found  himself,  by  whatever  means,  powerful 
enough  to  arrest,  during  the  sitting  of  a  parliament  at  Perth, 
Murdach,  the  late  regent,  his  second  son  Alexander,  the 


280  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Earls  of  Douglas,  Angus,  and  March,  with  twenty  other 
persons  of  the  highest  rank,  among  whom  are  the  formidable 
names  of  Alexander  Lyndsay  of  Glenesk,  Hepburn  of  Hales, 
Hay  of  Tester,  Walter  Halyburton,  "Walter  Ogilvy,  Stewart 
of  Rosyth,  Alexander  of  Seton-Gordon,  Ogilvy  of  Auchter- 
house,  John  the  Red  Stewart  of  Dundonald,  David  Murray 
of  Gask,  Hay  of  Errol,  constable  of  Scotland,  Scrimgeour, 
the  constable  of  Dundee,  Irving  of  Drum,  Herbert  Maxwell 
of  Carlaverock,  Herbert  Herries  of  Terreagles,  Gray  of 
Foulis,  Cunninghame  of  Kilmauris,  Ramsay  of  Dalwolsey, 
Crichton  of  Crichton. 

In  perusing  this  list  of  ancient  and  powerful  names,  we 
are  alike  surprised  to  see  so  many  barons,  whose  estates 
and  interests  lay  separated  over  various  parts  of  Scotland, 
involved  in  the  same  general  accusation,  and  at  the  courage 
of  the  sovereign,  who  dared  to  apply  the  rigor  of  law  to  such 
a  number  of  his  powerful  subjects  at  the  same  time.  The 
prisoners  were  probably  selected  as  the  principal  allies  of  the 
Albany  family,  or  perhaps  as  those  who,  having  shared  most 
deeply  in  the  spoils  distributed  during  the  regencies,  might 
be  most  tempted  to  defend  its  usurpations.  The  specific 
charge  against  the  imprisoned  barons  was  probably  their 
having  evaded  compliance  with  the  royal  command  to  ex- 
hibit their  titles  to  their  lands.  But,  though  so  many  were 
included,  it  was  at  the  family  of  Albany  only  that  vengeance 
was  aimed.  The  blow  was  struck  so  suddenly  that  the  only 
one  of  the  devoted  family  who  had  time  to  take  precaution 
for  his  safety,  or  offer  resistance,  was  James  Stewart,  the 
youngest  son  of  Duke  Murdach.  He  made  his  escape  to 
the  west  of  Scotland,  returned  by  a  sudden  incursion,  burned 
Dumbarton,  and  slew  the  king's  uncle,  the  Red  Stewart  of 
Dundonald;  but,  closely  pressed  by  the  king's  command, 
was  obliged  to  fly  to  Ireland. 

Murdach  and  his  two  sons,  with  their  grandfather  by 
the  mother's  side,  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  were  brought  to  trial 
under  cognizance  of  an  assize  or  jury  of  nobles,  in  which  the 
allies  and  supporters  of  the  king  were  mingled  with  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  281 

favorers  and  allies  of  the  House  of  Albany  in  such  a  propor- 
tion as  to  give  an  appearance  of  impartiality  to  the  trial, 
though  the  party  of  royalists  was  undoubtedly  adequate  to 
command  the  verdict,  which,  in  Scotland,  is  decided  by  a 
majority  of  voices. 

The  nature  of  the  charge  brought  against  these  high- 
descended  and  late  powerful  persons  is  unknown.  There 
could  be  no  want  of  instances  in  which  the  usurpation  of 
the  prisoners  had  amounted  to  acts  of  high  treason.  The 
king  himself  was  present  at  the  trial,  with  the  royal  em- 
blems of  dignity.  The  fatal  verdict  of  guilty  was  pronounced 
against  them  all,  and  they  were  executed  on  the  castle  hill 
at  Stirling,  upon  the  little  artificial  mound  called  Hurley 
Hacket.  From  this  elevated  position,  Duke  Murdach  might 
cast  his  last  look  upon  the  fertile  and  romantic  territory  of 
Monteith,  which  formed  part  of  his  family  estate,  and  dis- 
tinguish in  the  distance  the  stately  castle  of  Doune,  which 
emulated  the  magnificence  of  palaces,  and  had  been  his 
own  viceregal  residence.  Among  the  multitude  who  beheld 
this  melancholy  spectacle,  a  sense  of  the  mutability  of  human 
affairs,  and  the  interest  naturally  due  to  fallen  greatness, 
drowned  recollection  of  the  noble  criminals'  faults  in  sym- 
pathy for  then*  misfortunes.  Duke  Robert,  the  great  offender 
of  the  House  of  Albany,  had  been  summoned  long  before  to  a 
higher  tribunal ;  and  the  imbecility  of  Duke  Murdach,  who 
only  inherited  at  most,  and  in  fact  renounced  the  usurpations 
of  his  father,  attracted  commiseration  rather  than  abhor- 
rence. The  goodly  persons  of  his  two  sons  drowned  in  the 
minds  of  the  vulgar  recollection  of  their  vices  and  follies; 
and  from  the  venerable  appearance  of  the  Earl  of  Lennox, 
a  man  hi  his  eightieth  year,  he  seemed  too  near  the  grave 
already  to  be  precipitated  into  it  by  the  hand  of  the  execu- 
tioner. The  purpose  of  the  king  seems,  in  fact,  to  have  failed 
in  a  great  measure.  He  meant  to  strike  a  wholesome  terror; 
but  the  punishment  of  so  many  nobles,  his  own  nearest  rela- 
tions, excited  in  some  bosoms  hatred  against  the  vindictive 
spirit  by  which  it  seemed  to  be  dictated,  and,  in  general, 


283  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

a  sense  that  such  a  severe  animadversion  upon  crimes  long 
past  savored  too  much  of  rigor  to  be  true  policy.  These 
unfavorable  feelings  were  exaggerated  in  the  eyes  of  such 
as  conceived  that  the  monarch  had  the  selfish  prospect  of 
repairing  the  royal  revenue  by  the  forfeiture  of  the  estates 
of  these  wealthy  criminals. 

Perhaps,  like  many  reformers,  this  excellent  prince,  for 
such  he  must  certainly  be  esteemed,  fell  into  an  error  com- 
mon to  those  who,  seeing  acutely  the  extent  of  a  rooted  evil, 
attempt  too  hastily  and  too  violently  to  remedy  it  by  instant 
eradication.  It  is  in  the  political  world  as  in  the  human 
frame;  dislocations  which  have  been  of  long  standing,  and 
to  which  the  neighboring  parts  of  the  system  have  accommo- 
dated themselves,  cannot  be  brought  back  to  their  proper 
state  without  time,  patience,  and  gentleness.  It  is  true,  the 
long  course  of  license  permitted  by  the  loose  government  of 
the  House  of  Albany  had  subjected  many  hundreds,  nay, 
thousands  of  individuals  to  the  penalties  of  the  law;  but  it 
cannot  escape  notice  that,  while  a  few  severe  examples  are 
in  such  a  case  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  a 
respect  for  justice,  the  extending  capital  punishments  to 
a  large  circle  disgusts  the  public  mind,  assumes  the  form 
of  vengeance  rather  than  legal  severity,  and  procures  for 
malefactors  an  interest  in  their  fate  capable  of  altogether 
destroying  the  great  purpose  of  punishment,  by  causing  men 
to  hate  instead  of  respecting  its  motives.  If,  as  historians 
affirm,  James  I.  actually  adjudged  to  death,  within  the  first 
two  years  of  his  reign,  to  the  number  of  three  thousand  of 
his  subjects,  for  offences  committed  during  his  imprisonment 
in  England,  he  certainly  merited  that  the  reproof  used  by 
Mecaenas  to  Augustus— "surge  tandem  carnifex" — ought 
to  have  interrupted  his  judicial  butchery. 

James  I.  might  be  more  easily  justified  in  teaching,  even 
by  strict  examples  of  severity,  the  respect  due  to  the  royal 
person,  the  source  of  law  and  justice,  which  had  fallen  into 
contempt  during  the  feeble  regency,  of  Duke  Murdaoh,  than 
in  prosecution  of  acts  of  treason  committed  when  there  was 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  283 

no  king  in  the  land.  We  have  the  following  instance  of  his 
strictness  on  such  occasions :  A  nobleman  of  high  rank,  and 
nearly  related  to  the  crown,  forgot  himself  so  far  as  to  strike 
a  youth  within  the  king's  hall.  James  commanded  that  the 
hand  with  which  the  offence  had  been  given  should  on  the 
instant  be  extended  on  the  council-table,  and  the  young  man 
who  had  received  the  blow  was  ordered  to  stand  by  with  the 
edge  of  a  large  knife  applied  to  the  wrist  of  the  offender, 
ready  to  sever  it  upon  a  signal  given.  In  this  posture  the 
culprit  remained  for  more  than  an  hour  in  agonizing  expecta- 
tion of  the  blow  being  struck,  while  the  queen  and  her  ladies, 
the  prelates,  and  the  clergy,  prostrated  themselves  on  the 
floor,  imploring  mercy  for  the  criminal.  The  king  at  length 
dispensed  with  the  punishment,  but  banished  the  offender  for 
some  time  from  his  court  and  presence. 

In  142?,  besides  repressing  the  general  habits  of  violence 
and  devastation  hi  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland,  James  had  also 
to  reduce  to  his  obedience  the  Highland  chiefs,  who  during 
the  impunity  of  the  last  regency  had  thrown  off  all  respect 
to  the  mandates  of  the  crown,  forgotten  the  terrors  of  the 
Harlaw,  and  might  be  considered  as  having  returned  to 
their  pristine  independence  and  barbarism.  The  king,  with 
a  view  to  remedy  these  evils,  built  or  repaired  the  strong 
tower  of  Inverness,  at  which  place  he  held  a  parliament. 
Alexander,  the  lord  of  the  Isles,  and  his  mother,  the  Count- 
ess of  Ross,  with  almost  all  the  Highland  chiefs,  many  of 
whom  could  carry  into  the  field  at  least  two  thousand  men, 
attended  upon  this  assembly.  The  king  invited  them  sepa- 
rately to  visit  his  castle,  where  he  had  nearly  fifty  of  them 
placed  in  arrest  at  the  same  moment;  James  in  the  mean- 
while applauding  his  own  dexterity  in  an  extempore  verse, 
of  which  the  Latin  only  survives. '  Two  leaders  of  tribes, 

1  Ad  turrim  forte m  ducamus  caute  cohortem; 
Per  Christ!  sortem,  meruerunt  hi  quia  mortem. 

Which  may  be  thus  translated: 

To  donjon  tower  let  this  rude  troop  be  driven; 
For  death  they  merit,  by  the  cross  of  heaven. 


284  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Alexander  M'Reury  de  Garmoran  and  John  M'Arthur,  as 
more  powerful,  or  more  insolent,  or  more  guilty  than  the 
others,  were  beheaded  for  acts  of  robbery  and  oppression; 
and  to  render  his  justice  impartial,  James  Campbell  was 
hanged  for  the  murder  of  John,  a  former  lord  of  the  Isles. 

In  the  midst  of  these  examples  of  punishment,  James  was 
clement  in  his  treatment  of  Alexander  of  the  Isles,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Donald,  who  was  worsted  at  the  Harlaw,  and  only 
remonstrating  with  him  upon  the  necessity  of  his  discontinu- 
ing his  family  habits  of  lawless  turbulence,  he  dismissed  him 
upon  his  promise  to  abstain  from  such  in  future.  His  mother 
was  detained  as  a  hostage  for  his  faith.  Alexander,  how- 
ever, no  sooner  returned  to  his  own  territories  than  he  raised 
his  banner,  and  collected  a  host  from  the  Isles  and  Highland 
mainland  to  the  amount  of  ten  thousand  men,  with  which  he 
invaded  the  continent,  and  burned  the  town  of  Inverness, 
where  he  had  lately  sustained  the  affront  of  an  arrest.  King 
James  assembled  an  army  and  hastened  northward,  where 
his  prompt  arrival  alarmed  the  invaders.  Two  powerful 
tribes,  the  Clan  Chattan  and  Clan  Cameron,  deserted  the 
lord  of  the  Isles,  and  ranged  themselves  under  the  royal 
banner.  Weakened  and  dispirited,  the  Highland  forces  sus- 
tained a  severe  defeat,  and  the  lord  of  the  Isles  humbled 
himself  to  ask  peace  and  forgiveness.  It  was  not,  however, 
granted  till  he  had  performed  a  feudal  penance  for  his  breach 
of  allegiance.  On  the  eve  of  St.  Augustine's  festival,  he  ap- 
peared in  full  congregation,  before  the  high  altar  of  Holyrood 
Church,  at  Edinburgh,  attired  only  in  his  shirt  and  drawers, 
and  there  upon  his  knees  presented  the  hilt  of  his  naked 
sword  to  the  king,  he  himself  holding  it  by  the  point.  In 
this  attitude  of  submission  the  island  chief  humbly  con- 
fessed his  offences,  and  deprecated  their  deserved  punish- 
ment. The  capital  penalty,  which  he  had  deservedly  in- 
curred, was  exchanged  for  a  long  imprisonment  in  Tantallon 
Castle. 

The  captivity  of  the  lord  of  the  Isles  did  not  prevent 
further  disturbance  from  these  unruly  people. — Choosing 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  285 

for  chieftain  Donald,  called  Ballach  or  the  Freckled,  the 
couain-german  of  their  imprisoned  lord,  who  exercised  his 
power  during  his  captivity,  the  islanders  again  invaded 
Lochaber  with  an  army  of  wild  Catherans.  Encountering 
the  Earls  of  Mar  and  of  Caithness,  the  Celtic  chief  totally 
defeated  them  with  much  slaughter.  Donald  therefore  re- 
turned to  the  islands  with  victory.  But  the  king  making 
great  preparations  to  revenge  this  invasion,  the  Highland 
chiefs  who  had  been  accessory  to  it  became  afraid  of  the 
royal  power,  to  which  the  activity  of  James  had  given  such 
additional  respect,  and  not  only  submitted  themselves  to 
their  sovereign,  but  offered  him  their  services  against  Don- 
ald Ballach,  whose  overbearing  insolence  they  alleged  had 
been  the  cause  of  their  error.  Thus  deserted  by  those  who 
had  been  accessory  to  his  crime,  Donald  Ballach  was  forced 
to  fly  to  Ireland,  where  he  was  shortly  after  slain,  to  pro- 
pitiate the  Scottish  king,  and  his  head  sent  to  the  court  of 
James. 

James  took  other  and  less  violent  methods  of  confirming 
the  right  of  the  Scottish  crown,  by  accommodating  with  the 
Norwegians,  who  had  heavy  claims  for  the  long  arrears  of 
an  annuity,  stipulated  to  them  in  the  treaty  with  Alexander 
III.,  as  the  consideration  for  ceding  their  right  over  the 
Hebrides,  but  which  the  continued  misfortunes  of  Scotland 
had  prevented  from  being  regularly  paid. 

In  another  material  point  James  I.  prosecuted  his  plan 
of  lowering  the  power  of  the  nobility,  and  rendering  them 
more  dependent  on  the  crown ;  and  it  is  only  by  catching 
at  such  casual  sources  of  information  that  we  can  form  a 
fair  estimate  of  the  schemes  which  he  had  formed  or  the 
means  by  which  he  proposed  to  execute  them.  We  have 
repeatedly  seen  the  powerful  Earls  of  March,  who  lay  on 
the  eastern  frontiers  of  Scotland,  renounce  and  return  to  the 
allegiance  of  that  country  at  their  pleasure;  and  render  their 
castle  of  Dunbar  at  one  time  a  rampart  against  the  English, 
at  another  a  place  of  refuge  to  the  retreating  monarchs  of 
that  kingdom.  Whether  the  existing  Earl  of  March  had 


286  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

been  recently  engaged  in  any  of  those  unlawful  and  treason- 
able practices  which  had  distinguished  his  family  in  former 
generations,  or  whether  he  was  only  guilty  of  possessing  the 
power  to  be  dangerous,  we  cannot  well  discern ;  but  he  was 
confined  to  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  as  a  prisoner,  and  his 
castle  of  Dunbar,  being  taken  possession  of  by  the  king,  was 
placed  in  the  keeping  of  Adam  Hepburn  of  Hales.  The 
legal  reasons  assigned  were,  that  the  forfeiture  of  the  earldom 
of  March  having  been  decreed,  on  account  of  the  repeated 
treason  of  George,  earl  of  March,  the  power  of  the  regent 
Duke  of  Albany  was  insufficient  to  disjoin  them  from  the 
crown,  to  which  they  had  been  united,  and  to  confer  them 
on  the  son  of  the  traitor.  It  was  not,  however,  the  purpose 
of  the  king  to  act  with  rigor  or  injustice  toward  the  present 
earl,  even  in  depriving  him  of  possessions  which  afforded 
him  a  power  liable  to  be  abused.  He  closed  the  transaction 
by  instantly  conferring  on  the  late  Earl  of  March  the  earl- 
dom of  Buchan,  which,  by  the  death  of  the  gallant  high 
constable  of  France  at  the  battle  of  Verneuil,  already  men- 
tioned, had  reverted  to  the  crown.  By  this  policy  James 
hoped  to  convert  a  powerful  family,  from  fickle  and  uncer- 
tain borderers,  into  more  faithful  inland  vassals. 

Almost  all  the  proceedings  of  James  I.  were  directed  to 
the  same  general  end — that  of  diminishing  the  power  of  the 
nobles,  which  occasioned  the  discords  in  the  state,  and  the 
general  oppression  of  the  subjects,  and  proportionally  aug- 
menting and  extending  the  influence  of  the  crown.  This 
comprehended,  indeed,  the  selfish  purpose  of  elevating  the 
king  himself  to  a  more  absolute  superiority  in  the  state;  but 
as,  in  that  stage  of  society,  the  royal  authority  was  the  best 
means  by  which  the  general  peace  and  good  order  of  the 
country  at  large  could  be  preserved,  James  may  be  consid- 
ered as  having  pursued  his  favorite  object  with  humane  and 
patriotic  views,  directed  more  to  the  benefit  of  Scotland  than 
his  own  aggrandizement. 

By  an  act  of  parliament  prohibiting  all  bonds  and  leagues, 
by  which  the  nobility  used  to  bind  themselves  to  take  each 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  287 

other's  part  against  the  rest  of  the  community,  or  against 
the  crown  itself,  and  declaring  that  associations  which  had 
been  made  for  such  dangerous  and  unlawful  purposes  were 
not  binding,  James  endeavored  to  deprive  these  petty  princes 
of  the  power  of  uniting  themselves  together  against  his  au- 
thority. Great  pains  were  also  taken  to  assure  the  regular 
distribution  of  government  by  the  royal  courts  of  justice, 
with  the  assurance  that  if  there  were  any  "poor  creature" 
who,  for  want  of  skill  and  money,  could  not  have  his  cause 
properly  stated,  a  skilful  advocate  should  be  engaged  for 
him  at  the  expense  of  the  crown. 

Another  law  against  leasing-raaking  imposed  the  doom 
of  death  on  the  devisers  of  such  falsehoods  as  were  calcu- 
lated to  render  the  king's  government  odious  to  the  people. 
The  punishment,  however  severe,  was  not,  perhaps,  ill  suited 
to  that  time,  when  there  was  so  little  communication  between 
different  parts  of  the  country,  and  one  province  knew  so  little 
of  what  was  happening  in  another  that  a  rumor  of  any  un- 
popular measure  or  oppressive  act  on  the  part  of  the  crown 
might  put  a  part  of  the  kingdom  into  open  rebellion  before 
it  could  be  refuted  or  explained.  In  after-times,  the  statute, 
being  applied  even  to  confidential  communications  between 
man  and  man,  became  the  source  of  gross  and  iniquitous 
oppression. 

In  relation  to  foreign  policy,  James  I.  appears  to  have 
supported  his  place  with  dignity  between  the  contending 
powers  of  France  and  England.  Like  his  predecessors,  he 
preferred  the  alliance  of  the  former  kingdom,  as  less  tempted 
to  abuse  his  confidence ;  and  his  friendship  was  thought  of 
such  importance  that  Charles  of  France  was  induced  to 
cement  it  by  choosing  the  bride  of  his  son  the  dauphin, 
afterward  Louis  XL,  in  the  person  of  Margaret,  eldest 
daughter  of  the  king  of  Scotland.  The  bridal  took  place 
in  1436,  eight  years  after  the  contract.  The  honor  which 
attended  this  match  was  great;  but  the  bride's  happiness 
was  far  from  being  secured  in  proportion.  Though  amiable 
and  accomplished,  she  was  neglected  and  contemned  by  her 


288  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

husband,  one  of  the  most  malignant  men  who  ever  lived. 
She  was  basely  calumniated  also  and  slandered  by  his  un- 
worthy courtiers,  and  appears  to  have  felt  the  imputed  ig- 
nominy so  sensitively  that  the  acuteness  of  her  feelings  at 
length  cost  the  princess  her  life. 

As  the  affairs  of  the  English  were  declining  in  France, 
from  the  enthusiasm  universally  awakened  by  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Maid  of  Orleans  on  the  scene,  an  English  am- 
bassador was  sent  to  Scotland,  in  the  person  of  Lord  Scroope, 
with  instructions  to  gain  James,  if  possible,  from  his  French 
alliance.  England  proposed  terms  which  had  not  been  lately 
named  in  negotiation  between  the  countries.  The  offers  were 
a  sure  and  perpetual  peace,  with  the  restitution  to  Scotland 
of  the  castle  of  Roxburgh,  the  town  of  Berwick,  together 
with  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  as  far  southward  as 
Here  Cross  on  Stanmoor.  The  Scottish  historians  say  that 
the  English  were  not  sincere  in  these  proposals.  If  they 
were,  James  could  not  have  entertained  them  without  a 
formal  breach  of  his  treaty  with  France.  The  clergy  inter- 
fered to  support  this  obstacle,  with  the  important  additional 
objection  that  the  contract  with  France  had  obtained  an  irre- 
fragable, and  in  some  degree  sacred,  character,  by  its  hav- 
ing received  the  sanction  of  the  pope,  and  therefore  could 
not  be  infringed  without  a  high  crime.  In  the  course  of  the 
scholastic  discussion  which  arose  on  the  question,  what  effect 
the  approbation  of  the  Roman  pontiff  conferred  on  a  contract 
solemnly  entered  into  between  two  independent  monarchs, 
the  disputants  lost  sight  of  the  English  propositions,  the  most 
honorable  which  Scotland  had  received  from  her  proud  neigh- 
bor since  the  arms  of  Bruce  extorted  from  her  the  treaty  of 
Northampton,  and  the  negotiation  fell  to  the  ground. 

It  may  be  easily  conceived  that  the  unwonted  boldness 
with  which  James  carried  on  his  favorite  measures — resum- 
ing grants  made  in  favor  of  the  most  powerful  nobles — alter- 
ing at  his  will  the  seat  of  their  power,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Earl  of  March — interfering  with  and  controlling  their  juris- 
diction over  their  vassals — at  times  imprisoning  the  most 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  289 

powerful  of  them,  as  he  did  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  his  own 
nephew — and  substituting  the  authority  of  the  crown  for 
that  of  the  vassals,  by  whose  greatness  it  had  been  eclipsed 
— was  regarded  with  very  different  feelings  by  two  classes 
of  his  subjects.  With  the  great  mass  of  the  nation  James 
was  popular;  for  the  people  felt  the  protection  arising  from 
the  power  of  the  crown,  which  could  seldom  have  any  temp- 
tation to  oppress  those  in  middle  life,  and  willingly  took  ref- 
uge under  it  to  escape  from  the  subordinate  tyranny  of  the 
numerous  barons,  whose  castles  crowned  every  cliff,  and  for 
whose  rapacity  or  violence  no  object  was  too  inconsiderable. 
It  was  different  with  the  nobility,  who  felt  acutely  that,  as 
the  king's  importance  arose  in  the  national  scale,  their  own 
was  gradually  sulking.  They  regarded  the  quantity  of  blood 
which  had  been  shed  by  James's  command  less  as  a  sacrifice 
to  justice  than  as  the  means  by  which  the  sovereign  indulged 
his  rapacity  after  forfeitures,  and  what  they  alleged  to  be  his 
vindictive  hatred  to  the  nobility.  Many  of  the  victims  who 
had  suffered  the  penalties  of  the  law  were  related  to  honor- 
able houses ;  and  it  was  a  point  of  honor,  and  almost  of  con- 
science, with  their  kindred,  to  watch  for  the  opportunity  to 
revenge  their  death.  There  was,  therefore,  a  great  party 
among  the  nobility  who  regarded  James  with  fear  and 
hatred,  and  who  only  wanted  an  opportunity  to  give  deadly 
proof  of  the  character  of  their  feelings  toward  him. 

The  approach  of  war  gave  these  evil  sentiments  an  oppor- 
tunity to  display  themselves.  In  1435,  Sir  Robert  Ogle,  an 
English  borderer  of  distinction,  in  breach  of  a  truce  which 
had  continued  uninterrupted  since  King  James's  accession 
to  the  Scottish  throne,  made  an  incursion  on  the  borders, 
and  did  some  mischief;  but  was  encountered  by  the  Earl 
of  Angus  near  Piperden,  defeated  and  made  prisoner.  In 
resentment  of  this  violence,  and  of  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  English  to  intercept  the  Scottish  Princess  Margaret  on 
her  way  to  France,  James  declared  war  against  England, 
1436.  He  besieged  Roxburgh  Castle  with  the  whole  array 
of  his  kingdom,  which  was  said  to  amount  to  a  tumultuary 
13  ^  VOL.  I. 


290  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

multitude  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  men.  After  remain- 
ing fifteen  days  before  Roxburgh,  the  king  suddenly  raised 
the  siege  and  dismissed  his  array,  upon  surmise,  as  has  been 
supposed,  of  treason  in  his  host.  That  there  were  such  prac- 
tices is  highly  probable ;  and  a  Scottish  encampment,  filled 
with  feudal  levies,  each  man  under  the  banner  of  the  noble 
to  whom  he  owed  service,  was  no  safe  residence  for  a  mon- 
arch who  was  on  bad  terms  with  his  aristocracy. 

After  dismissal  of  his  army,  James  I.  met  his  parliament 
at  Edinburgh,  and  employed  himself  and  them  in  making 
several  regulations  for  commerce,  and  for  the  impartial  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  In  the  meantime  the  period  of  this 
active  and  good  prince's  labors  was  speedily  approaching. 

The  chief  author  of  his  fate  was  Sir  Robert  Grahame, 
uncle  to  the  Earl  of  Strathern.  James,  with  his  usual  view 
of  unfixing  and  gradually  undermining  the  high  power  of 
the  nobility,  resumed  the  Earldom  of  Strathern,  and  obliged 
the  young  earl  to  accept  of  the  Earldom  of  Monteith  in  lieu 
of  it.  This  seems  to  have  irritated  the  haughty  spirit  of  the 
earl's  uncle,  Sir  Robert,  who  was  likewise  exasperated  by 
having  sustained  a  personal  arrest  and  imprisonment,  along 
with  other  men  of  rank,  on  the  king's  return  in  1425.  En- 
tertaining these  causes  of  personal  dislike  against  his  sover- 
eign, Grahame,  in  the  parliament  of  1429,  undertook  to  rep- 
resent to  the  king  the  grievances  of  the  nobility;  but,  instead 
of  doing  so  with  respect  and  moderation,  this  fierce  and 
haughty  man  worked  himself  into  such  extremity  of  pas- 
sion as  to  make  offer  to  arrest  the  monarch  in  name  of  the 
estates  of  parliament.  As  no  one  dared  to  support  him  in 
an  attempt  so  arrogant,  Grahame  was  seized,  and,  finally, 
his  possessions  were  declared  forfeited,  and  he  himself 
ordered  into  banishment. 

He  retired  to  the  recesses  of  the  Highlands,  vowing  re- 
venge, and  had  the  boldness  to  send  forth  from  his  lurking- 
place  a  written  defiance,  in  which  he  renounced  the  king's 
allegiance,  and  declared  himself  his  mortal  enemy.  On  this 
new  proof  of  audacity,  a  reward  was  offered  to  any  one  who 


LANDING  OF   THE  PRETENDER   IN  SCOTLAND 

Scotland,  vol.  one. 


HISTORY   OF    SCOTLAND  291 

should  bring  in  the  person  of  Sir  Robert  Grahame,  dead  or 
alive.  On  this  a  conspiracy  took  place,  the  event  of  which 
was  terrible,  although  we  can  but  ill  trace  the  motives  of 
some  of  the  party. 

The  ostensible  head  of  the  conspirators  was  the  king*s 
own  uncle,  "Walter,  earl  of  Athole,  son  of  Robert  III.,  by 
his  second  marriage.  This  ambitious  old  man  was  not  pre- 
vented by  his  near  alliance  with  the  crown  from  plotting 
against  his  royal  nephew's  life,  with  the  purpose  of  placing 
on  the  throne  Sir  Robert  Stewart,  his  own  grandson,  who 
on  his  part,  though  favored  by  the  king,  and  holding  the 
confidential  situation  of  chamberlain,  did  not  hesitate  to 
enter  into  so  nefarious  a  conspiracy.  The  event  proved 
that  the  conspirators  had  formed  their  plan  for  assassinat- 
ing their  prince  with  too  much  accuracy.  But  the  hopes 
upon  which  Athole  and  his  grandson  founded  the  subsequent 
part  of  their  plot  seem  to  have  been  vague  and  uncertain  to 
an  extravagant  degree,  inducing  us  to  believe,  that,  like 
other  heated  and  fiery  spirits  in  similar  situations,  those 
engaged  in  the  bloody  design  must  have  worked  themselves 
into  the  belief  that  the  feelings  of  hatred  toward  James 
which  animated  their  own  bosoms  were  also  nourished  by 
the  greater  part  of  the  community;  a  species  of  self-delu- 
sion common  among  men  who  engage  in  such  desperate 
enterprises. 

The  removal  of  the  court  to  Perth,  where  James  pro- 
posed to  hold  his  Christmas,  facilitated  the  conspirators' 
enterprise,  by  making  a  sudden  descent  from  the  Highlands 
a  short  expedition.  About  the  21st  of  February,  1437,  the 
king,  after  having  entertained  his  treacherous  uncle  of  Athole 
at  supper,  was  about  to  retire  to  rest  in  the  Dominican  mon- 
astery, which  was  the  royal  residence  for  the  time,  when  it 
was  suddenly  entered  by  a  body  of  three  hundred  men, 
whose  admittance  had  been  facilitated  by  Sir  Robert 
Stewart,  the  faithless  chamberlain.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  a  young  lady  in  attendance  on  the  queen,  named 
Katherine  Douglas,  endeavored  to  supply  the  want  of  a 


292  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

bar  to  the  door  of  the  royal  apartment  by  thrusting  her 
own  arm  across  the  staples.  This  slender  obstacle  was  soon 
overcome.  So  much  time  had,  however,  been  gained,  that 
the  queen  and  her  ladies  had  found  means  to  let  down  the 
king  into  a  vault  beneath  the  apartment,  from  which  he 
might  have  made  his  escape,  had  not  an  entrance  from  the 
sewer  to  the  court  of  the  monastery  been  built  up  by  his  own 
order  a  day  or  two  before,  because  his  balls,  as  he  played  at 
tennis,  were  lost  by  entering  the  vault.  Still,  notwithstand- 
ing this  obstacle,  the  king  might  have  escaped,  for  the  assas- 
sins left  the  apartment  without  finding  out  his  place  of  re- 
treat, and,  having  in  their  brutal  fury  wounded  the  queen, 
dispersed  to  seek  for  James  in  the  other  chambers.  Unhap- 
pily, before  either  the  conspirators  had  withdrawn  from  the 
palace,  or  assistance  had  arrived,  the  king  endeavored,  by 
the  help  of  the  ladies,  to  escape  from  the  vault,  and  some 
of  the  villains  returning,  detected  him  in  the  attempt.  Two 
brothers,  named  Hall,  then  descending  into  the  vault,  fell 
fiercely  upon  James  with  their  daggers ;  when,  young,  active, 
and  fighting  for  his  life,  the  king  threw  them  down,  and 
trod  them  under  foot.  But  while  he  was  struggling  with 
the  traitors,  and  cutting  his  hands  in  an  attempt  to  wrench 
their  daggers  from  them,  the  principal  conspirator,  Grahame, 
came  to  the  assistance  of  his  associates,  and  the  king  died  by 
many  wounds.  Thus  fell  James  I.,  a  prince  of  distinguished 
talents  and  virtue,  too  deep  in  political  speculation,  perhaps, 
for  the  period  in  which  he  lived,  too  hasty  and  eager  in 
carrying  his  meditated  reformation  into  execution,  and  too 
rigorous  in  punishing  crimes  which  were  rather  the  fruit  of 
tempting  opportunity,  and  of  the  general  license  of  a  dis- 
orderly period,  than  the  deliberate  offspring  of  individual 
guilt. 

The  alarm  was  given  at  last,  and  the  attendants  of  the 
court  and  domestics  began  to  gather  to  the  palace,  from 
which  the  assassins  made  their  escape  to  the  Highlands, 
not  without  loss. 

The  Queen  Joanna  urged  the  pursuit  of  the  murderers 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  293 

with  a  zeal  becoming  the  widow  of  such  a  husband.  She 
had  enjoyed  her  husband's  political  confidence  as  well  as 
his  domestic  affection.  In  the  parliament  of  1435  the  king, 
impressed,  perhaps,  with  a  presentiment  that  his  public- 
spirited  measures  might  expose  him  to  assassination,  caused 
the  members  of  the  estates  to  give  written  assurances  of 
their  fidelity  to  the  queen.  Upon  this  trying  occasion  they 
redeemed  their  pledge,  and  a  close  and  general  pursuit  after 
the  murderers  took  place.  In  the  space. of  a  month  they 
were  all  apprehended  in  their  various  lurking-places. 
Athole's  grandson,  Sir  Robert  Stewart,  was  executed  at 
Edinburgh  with  refined  tortures,  in  the  midst  of  which  he 
avowed  his  guilt.  The  aged  earl  admitted  that  his  grandson 
had  proposed  such  a  conspiracy  to  him;  but  alleged  that  he 
did  his  utmost  to  dissuade  him  from  engaging  in  it,  and 
believed  that  the  idea  was  laid  aside.  He  was  beheaded 
at  Edinburgh,  and  his  head,  being  surrounded  with  a  crown 
of  iron,  was  exposed  to  public  view.  The  principal  con- 
spirator, Sir  Robert  Grahame,  whose  mind  had  devised,  and 
whose  hand  executed  the  bloody  deed,  boldly  contended  that 
he  had  a  right  to  act  as  he  had  done.  The  king,  he  said, 
had  inflicted  on  him  a  mortal  injury;  and  he,  in  return,  had 
renounced  his  allegiance,  and  sent  him  a  formal  letter  of 
defiance.  Dreadful  tortures  were  inflicted  on  the  regicide, 
which  served  but  to  show  how  much  extremity  a  hardy 
spirit  is  capable  to  endure.  He  told  the  court,  that,  though 
now  executed  as  a  traitor,  he  should  be  hereafter  recollected 
as  the  man  who  had  freed  Scotland  from  a  tyrant.  But  the 
evil  spirit  which  had  seduced  him,  and  seemed  to  speak  by 
his  mouth,  proved  a  false  prophet:  the  immortality  which 
his  memory  obtained  was  only  conferred  by  a  popular  rhyme, 
to  this  effect  * 

Robert  Grahame, 

That  kill'd  our  king,  God  give  him  shame. 

James  I.  had  two  sons ;  but  one  dying  in  infancy,  he  left 
behind  him  only  James  II.,  who  in  his  childhood  succeeded 


294  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

to  his  father's  throne.  The  late  king  had  five  daughters, 
who  were  married,  four  of  them  into  noble  families  abroad, 
while  the  youngest  was  wedded  to  the  Earl  of  Angus. 

Among  the  transactions  of  this  reign,  we  ought  not  to 
omit  to  mention  the  fate  of  two  heretics.  The  first  was  a 
Wickliflite,  called  John  Resby,  already  mentioned  as  exe- 
cuted under  the  regency  of  Albany.  James  I.  himself  is 
culpable  for  having  permitted  the  death  of  Paul  Crawar,  a 
foreigner,  and  a  follower  of  John  of  Huss.  He  was  tried 
by  Lawrence  of  Lindores,  the  same  bigoted  inquisitor  who 
sat  in  judgment  on  Resby,  whose  fate  this  second  martyr 
shared,  at  Saint  Andrew's,  1435.  These  instances  prove 
that  Scotland  did  not  escape  the  ravages  of  intolerant  su- 
perstition, though  her  history  stands  more  free  of  such 
shocking  cruelties  than  that  of  nations  more  important 
and  more  early  civilized  than  herself. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  295 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Struggle  between  the  Nobles  and  the  Crown — Elevation  of  Crichton 
and  Livingston  to  the  Government — Their  Dissensions — Crich- 
ton possesses  himself  of  the  King's  Person;  but  by  a  Stratagem 
of  the  Queen  he  is  conveyed  to  Stirling — Crichton  is  besieged  in 
Edinburgh  Castle;  reconciles  himself  with  Livingston;  quarrels 
once  more  with  him;  and  again  obtains  the  Custody  of  the 
King's  Person — A  second  Reconciliation — Power  of  the  Douglas 
Family — Trial  and  Execution  of  the  young  Earl  of  Douglas  and 
his  Brother — Highland  Feuds — Douglas  gains  the  Ascendency 
in  the  King's  Councils — Fall  of  the  Livingstons — Feud  of  the 
Earl  of  Crawford  and  the  Ogilvies — Death  of  the  Queen- 
Dowager — War  with  England — Battle  of  Sark — Marriage  of 
James — His  Quarrel  with  Douglas:  he  puts  him  to  Death  with 
his  own  Hand — Great  Civil  War — The  Douglas  Family  is  de- 
stroyed— War  with  England — Siege  of  Roxburgh  Castle,  and 
Death  of  James  H. 

IN  the  reign  of  James  I.  a  struggle  had  commenced  of  a 
nature  hitherto  unknown  to  Scotland.  The  dissensions 
by  which  the  kingdom  had  previously  been  disturbed 
or  divided  had  either  been  caused  by  hostile  invasion  or  the 
insurrection  of  ill-subdued  and  ill-governed  provinces,  the  in- 
habitants of  which,  to  resent  supposed  wrongs  and  indulge 
their  love  of  war  and  plunder,  disturbed  the  internal  peace 
of  the  country.  But  in  the  reign  of  this  monarch  we  for 
the  first  time  recognize  a  distinct  struggle  for  power  be- 
tween the  king  on  the  one  hand  and  the  great  nobility  on 
the  other ;  and  from  that  time  downward  we  can  trace  the 
progress  of  a  constant  and  sometimes  a  bloody  contest  be- 
tween the  monarch,  who  desired  to  increase  his  power,  and 
the  great  aristocratic  nobles,  who  were  determined  to  retain 
that  powerful  influence  in  the  state  which  they  had  secured 
by  frequent  wars,  in  which  their  arms  were  necessary,  and 


206  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

their  license  could  not  be  restrained,  and  "by  the  long  inter- 
vals of  minority,  when  the  regal  power  was  peculiarly  liable 
to  invasion.  The  mass  of  the  common  people,  termed  in 
France  the  tiers  &tat,  and  in  Britain  the  commons  of  the 
realm,  had  not  yet  arisen  to  that  consequence  in  Scotland 
which  the  same  order  had  attained  in  the  commercial  coun- 
tries of  Flanders,  France,  and  England.  The  towns  were 
poor,  and  the  merchants  ruined  by  constant  wars  and  the 
oppressions  of  the  neighboring  barons.  What  power  they 
had,  however,  in  the  national  councils  they  lent  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  king's  prerogative,  which  was  a  species  of  refuge 
to  them  from  the  subaltern  oppression  of  a  multitude  of  petty 
tyrants,  who  assumed  the  right  because  they  possessed  the 
power  to  tyrannize  over  them. 

The  late  monarch,  James  I.,  in  consequence  of  his  stand- 
ing in  opposition  to  the  aristocracy,  was  induced  to  select  his 
officers,  ministers,  and  counsellors,  not  from  the  haughty 
nobles  who  rivalled  his  power,  but  from  the  lower  class  of 
barons  or  private  gentlemen.  Among  them,  accordingly, 
James  I.  selected  several  individuals  of  talent,  application, 
and  knowledge  of  business,  and  employed  their  counsels  and 
abilities  in  the  service  of  the  state,  without  regard  to  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  great  nobles,  who  considered  every  office 
near  the  king's  person  as  their  own  peculiar  and  patrimo- 
nial right,  and  who  had  in  many  instances  converted  such 
employments  into  subjects  of  hereditary  transmission. 

Among  the  able  men  whom  James  I.  called  in  this  man- 
ner from  comparative  obscurity,  the  names  of  two  statesmen 
appear,  whom  he  had  selected  from  the  rank  of  the  gentry, 
and  raised  to  a  high  place  in  his  councils.  These  were  Sir 
William  Crichton  the  chancellor,  and  Sir  Alexander  Living- 
ston of  Calender.  Both  were  men  of  ancient  family,  though, 
descended  probably  of  Saxon  parentage,  they  did  not  number 
among  the  greater  nobles,  who  claimed,  generally  speaking, 
their  birth  from  the  Norman  blood.  Both,  and  more  espe- 
cially Crichton,  had  talents  of  a  distinguished  order,  and 
were  well  qualified  to  serve  the  state.  Unhappily,  these 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  297 

two  statesmen,  upon  whom  either  the  will  of  the  late  king, 
or  the  ordinance  of  a  parliament  called  at  Edinburgh  imme- 
diately after  James's  murder,  devolved  the  power  of  a  joint 
regency,  were  enemies  to  each  other,  probably  from  ancient 
rivalry;  and  it  was  still  more  unfortunate  that  their  talents 
were  not  united  with  corresponding  virtues ;  for  Livingston 
and  Crichton  appear  to  have  been  alike  ambitious,  cruel,  and 
unscrupulous  politicians.  It  is  said  by  the  Scots  chroniclers 
that  the  parliament  assigned  to  Crichton  the  chancellor  the 
administration  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  Livingston  the  care 
of  the  person  of  the  young  king. 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  widowed  queen 
Joanna  had  some  title  to  be  comprised  in  the  commission  of 
regency,  and  there  are  indications  that  such  had  been  the 
purpose  of  her  husband.  But  alone,  an  English  stranger, 
and  a  woman,  after  prosecuting  the  murderers  of  her  hus- 
band to  the  death,  she  seems  to  have  withdrawn  herself  from 
public  affairs ;  and  shortly  afterward  married  a  man  of  rank, 
Sir  James  Stewart,  who  was  called  the  Black  Knight  of 
Lorn — a  union  which,  placing  herself  under  tutelage,  dis- 
qualified her  from  the  office  of  regent,  whether  in  her  sole 
person  or  as  an  associate  of  Crichton  and  Livingston.  About 
the  same  time  (1438),  a  nine  years'  truce  with  England  put 
an  end  to  the  war  which  subsisted  at  the  death  of  James  I., 
and  left  the  Scottish  rulers  at  liberty  to  follow  out  without 
interruption  their  domestic  dissensions. 

These  were  of  a  numerous  and  complicated  nature.  Crich- 
ton and  Livingston,  who  had  been  preferred  by  the  king's 
favor  from  a  moderate  station  among  the  gentry  to  be  rulers 
of  the  state,  were  sufficiently  well  disposed  to  prosecute  the 
system  under  which  they  had  themselves  risen  to  power, 
providing  they  could  have  agreed  upon  the  share  of  the 
administration  which  each  of  them  was  to  hold.  But  they 
had  a  powerful  opponent  in  the  dreaded  Earl  of  Douglas,  a 
family  whom  we  have  often  mentioned  as  supporting  their 
native  princes  and  defending  the  honor  of  their  country,  but 
whom  we  must  now  record  as  placing  by  their  ambition  both 


298  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

the  one  and  the  other  in  extreme  danger.  Crichton  and 
Livingston  were  obliged  to  admit  this  mighty  peer  into  the 
office  of  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom.  It  does  not 
appear  that  he  was  disposed  to  abuse  his  trust;  but  it  is 
evident  that  Crichton  and  Livingston,  particularly  the 
former,  regarded  the  power  of  Douglas  with  suspicion  and 
fear. 

This  cause  of  alarm,  common  to  them  both,  did  not  sup- 
press their  mutual  hatred  to  each  other.  A  series  of  ma- 
noeuvres, disgraceful  when  the  situation  of  the  parties  is  con- 
sidered, and  tending  to  destroy  the  government  in  which 
they  held  such  a  principal  share,  were  played  off  between 
the  chancellor  and  governor  of  Scotland,  with  the  rapidity 
displayed  by  rival  jugglers  in  the  exercise  of  their  legerde- 
main. A  minute  account  of  enterprises  which  historians 
have  left  in  great  obscurity  may  be  here  slightly  excused; 
but  the  following  facts  are  prominent. 

Sir  "William  Crichton  had  possession  of  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burgh, in  which  strong  fortress  he  detained  the  person  of  the 
infant  king,  although  the  governor  Livingston  had  a  just 
title  to  the  custody  of  his  royal  pupil.  The  queen-dowager 
privately  favored  Livingston's  cause:  and  as  she  was  per- 
mitted to  visit  the  castle  at  all  times,  she  contrived  to  convey 
the  child  out  of  that  fortress,  by  enclosing  him  in  a  coffer 
supposed  to  contain  a  part  of  her  wardrobe.  Setting  sail 
from  Leith,  she  removed  the  prince  by  water  to  Stirling, 
where  Livingston  lay  in  garrison,  by  whom  she  was  gladly 
received.  Assembling  there  such  nobles  and  barons  as  ad- 
hered to  him,  Livingston  proposed  to  besiege  the  castle  of 
Edinburgh,  and  the  queen  offered  from  her  own  store-houses 
to  supply  the  soldiers  with  food.  The  castle  was  beleaguered 
accordingly.  Crichton,  thus  severely  threatened,  applied 
himself  in  his  necessity  to  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  offering  his 
constant  friendship  and  assistance,  on  condition  of  the  earl's 
standing  his  friend  at  this  crisis.  The  earl  scarce  heard  the 
message  to  an  end,  answering  with  a  furious  look  and  ges- 
ture, "It  is  but  small  harm,  methinks,  although  such  mis- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  299 

chievons  traitors  as  Crichton  and  Livingston  move  war 
against  each  other;  and  it  would  ill  become  any  of  the 
ancient  race  of  nobles  to  interfere  to  prevent  their  utter 
wreck  and  destruction.  As  for  myself,  nothing  is  more 
pleasing  than  to  hear  of  their  discord;  and  I  hope  I  shall 
live  to  see  the  mischief  they  deserve  condignly  overwhelm 
both." 

The  siege  by  this  time  was  laid  around  the  castle  of 
Edinburgh,  when  Crichton,  having  received  this  scornful 
answer  from  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  asked  an  interview  with 
his  enemy  Livingston,  to  whom  he  communicated  the  earl's 
reply  as  indicating  no  less  hostility  to  the  governor  than  to 
himself,  and-  proposed  that  they  should  forget  their  private 
enmity,  and  unite  to  protect  themselves  against  Douglas  as 
their  common  enemy.  At  the  same  time,  upon  an  under- 
standing that  he  should  receive  honorable  treatment,  Crich- 
ton declared  himself  ready  to  yield  up  the  castle  to  the 
governor.  Livingston,  after  consulting  his  friends,  accepted 
of  Crichton's  submission,  confirmed  him  in  his  office  of  chan- 
cellor, and  restored  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  to  his  charge; 
and  a  course  of  friendship  and  amity  seems  for  a  short  in- 
terval to  have  taken  place  between  the  two  rival  statesmen. 
This  state  of  concord  did  not  long  last ;  for  Crichton  found 
means  to  obtain  vengeance  both  of  the  queen  and  of  his 
rival  Livingston.  Under  pretence  that  Joanna  favored  the 
faction  of  the  Douglases,  Livingston  had  the  audacity  to 
arrest  the  widow  of  his  sovereign,  with  her  second  husband, 
the  Black  Knight  of  Lorn,  and  detain  them  for  some  time 
in  custody.  In  so  far  the  governor  avenged  on  the  queen 
the  offence  given  to  his  rival  Crichton.  But  he  was  himself 
circumvented  by  this  audacious  statesman.  Crichton  came 
in  darkness  with  a  party  of  horse  to  the  park  of  Stirling, 
where,  waiting  until  the  young  king  came  from  the  castle 
at  daybreak  to  hunt  with  a  small  attendance,  he  suddenly 
accosted  him,  and  easily  prevailed  on  him  to  repair  to  Edin- 
burgh. 

Upon  this  new  injury,  the  hatred  between  Crichton  and 


300  HISTOEY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Livingston  was  about  to  revive  with  treble  fury.  The  inter- 
ference, however,  of  the  prelates  of  Aberdeen  and  Murray 
again  accomplished  a  seeming  reconciliation.  The  two  con- 
tending statesmen  met  in  St.  Giles's  Church,  and  once  more 
renewed  their  politic  purpose  of  uniting  their  efforts  to  oppose 
the  power  of  the  aristocracy,  and  particularly  that  of  the 
House  of  Douglas.  It  required,  indeed,  all  the  influence  of 
both,  and  more  than  their  talents,  though  these  were  con- 
siderable, to  counterbalance  the  formidable  weight  of  such 
a  tremendous  opponent.  But  these  unprincipled  statesmen 
were  abundantly  disposed  to  support  their  want  of  power 
or  sagacity  by  fraud  and  circumvention. 

At  this  time  (1439)  Archibald,  the  fifth  earl  of  Douglas, 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  William,  a  boy  of  four- 
teen years  old,  upon  whom  descended  the  various  estates 
and  dignities  of  that  powerful  family.  The  duchy  of  Tou- 
raine  and  lordship  of  Longueville  in  France  seemed  to  give 
him  the  consequence  of  a  foreign  prince.  In  Scotland  he 
enjoyed  the  earldom  of  Douglas,  the  lordships  of  Galloway 
and  Annandale,  and  a  wide  extent  both  of  property  and 
influence  throughout  all  the  southern  frontier.  Repeatedly 
intermarried  with  the  royal  family  itself,  this  mighty  house 
had  also  formed  matrimonial  alliances  with  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  Scottish  families.  By  bonds  of  depend- 
ence, or  man-rent,  as  they  were  called,  almost  all  the  princi- 
pal gentry  who  lay  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  wide  domains 
of  Douglas  had  become  followers  of  the  earl's  banner;  and 
his  power,  as  far  as  it  could  be  immediately  and  directly 
exercised,  was  equal  to  that  of  the  king,  his  opulence  per- 
haps superior. 

In  1440,  Earl  William,  whose  youth  rendered  him  arro- 
gant, made  an  imprudent  display  of  the  power  which  he 
possessed.  His  ordinary  attendance  consisted  of  a  thousand 
horse,  and  he  is  said  to  have  held  cours  plenieres,  after  the 
manner  of  parliaments,  within  his  own  jurisdictions,  and 
to  have  dubbed  knights  with  his  own  hand.  The  body  of 
men  who  constantly  attended  on  this  young  chief  were  many 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  301 

of  them  such  as  found  their  subsistence  by  bloodshed  and 
pillage,  who  were  always  ready  to  interpose  the  name  of  their 
patron  as  a  defence  against  punishment.  The  instances  of 
oppression  performed  by  the  earl's  followers,  and  the  con- 
tempt and  insult  with  which  they  rejected  the  attempts  of 
the  ordinary  distributors  of  justice  to  bring  them  to  punish- 
ment, were  carefully  noted  down  and  laid  to  the  charge 
of  the  young  Douglas,  whom  Crichton  was  determined  to 
make  responsible  for  the  mass  of  injuries  which  were  com- 
mitted in  his  name  and  by  his  followers.  Under  pretext  of 
cultivating  an  intimacy  between  the  young  king  and  the 
Earl  of  Douglas,  whose  years  corresponded  together,  Earl 
William  and  his  younger  brother  David  were  inveigled  by 
the  chancellor's  flattery  and  fair  speeches  first  to  his  castle 
of  Crichton,  near  Edinburgh,  and  then  to  the  metropolis 
itself,  where  the  two  noble  guests  were  lodged  in  the  castle. 
Here,  while  they  expected  to  be  regaled  at  the  royal  table, 
a  black  bull's  head,  the  signal  of  death,  as  it  is  reputed  to 
have  been  in  Scotland,  was  suddenly  placed  before  them.1 
The  astonished  youths  were  dragged  from  the  table  by 
armed  men,  and  subjected  to  a  hasty  trial.  What  crimes 
they  were  accused  of  is  not  known;  but  the  extent  of  their 
power  and  the  lawless  character  of  their  followers  must  have 
afforded  enough  of  pretexts  for  condemnation,  when  the 
sentence  rested  with  judges  who  were  determined  to  make 
no  allowance  for  the  youth  and  inexperience  of  the  accused 
parties,  for  the  artifices  by  which  they  had  been  brought 
within  the  danger  of  the  law,  and  for  their  being  totally 
deprived  of  constitutional  or  legal  defenders.  The  youthful 
earl  and  his  brother  were  dragged  from  the  mock  judgment- 
seat  to  the  castle  yard,  where,  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  and 
prayers  of  the  young  king,  they  were  cruelly  beheaded. 
Malcolm  Fleming  of  Cumbernauld,  a  friend  and  adherent 
of  their  family,  shared  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  boys. 

1  This  circumstance  staggers  the  belief  of  modern  historians.  The 
bull's  head,  used  as  the  sign  of  death,  is  repeatedly  mentioned  in  High- 
land tradition,  and  the  custom  may  have  been  Celtic. 


302  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

The  whole  might  be  well  pronounced  a  murder  committed 
with  the  sword  of  justice. 

Unquestionably  Livingston  and  Crichton,  the  authors  of 
this  detestable  treason,  reckoned  on  its  effects  in  depressing 
the  House  of  Douglas,  and  producing  general  quiet  and  good 
order,  the  rather  upon  two  accounts:  the  first  was  that  a 
large  part  of  the  unentailed  property,  in  particular  the  estates 
of  Galloway,  Wigton,  Balveny,  Ormond,  and  Annandale, 
were  severed  from  the  inheritance  which  was  to  descend  on 
the  new  Earl  of  Douglas,  and  went  to  Margaret,  the  sister 
of  the  Earl  William  who  was  beheaded  in  the  castle,  who 
was  thence  commonly  called  the  Fair  Maiden  of  Galloway. 
Another  encouragement  to  the  crime  was  the  indolent  and 
pacific  disposition  of  James,  called  the  Gross,  the  uncle  of 
the  murdered  earl.  This  corpulent  dignitary,  whose  fat  is 
said  to  have  weighed  four  stone,  seems  accordingly  to  have 
taken  no  measures  whatever  for  avenging  the  death  of  his 
relatives;  on  which  account  the  historian  of  the  Douglas 
family  expresses  his  opinion  that  Earl  James's  obesity  had 
invested  him  with  a  dulness  of  spirit  inconsistent  with  the 
quick  feeling  of  honor  that  should  have  stimulated  him  to 
a  bold  revenge. 

But  the  state  took  as  little  benefit  from  the  division  of 
the  Douglas  estates  as  from  the  peaceful  temper  of  James 
the  Gross.  A  marriage,  hastily  effected,  between  William, 
son  and  heir  of  James  the  Gross,  and  his  cousin-german, 
Margaret  the  Fair  Maid  of  Galloway,  restored  the  whole 
of  her  immense  possessions  to  the  male  heir  of  the  House  of 
Douglas:  and  James  the  Gross,  being  removed  by  death 
within  two  years  after  the  murder  at  Edinburgh  Castle, 
was  succeeded  by  the  same  William,  a  youth  in  the  flower 
of  his  age,  of  as  ardent  ambition  as  any  of  his  towering 
house,  and  filled  with  hatred  against  Crichton  and  Living- 
ston for  their  share  in  his  kinsmen's  death.  Thus  did  the 
power  of  Douglas  revive  in  its  most  dangerous  form,  within 
two  years  after  the  tragic  execution  in  the  castle  of  Edin- 
burgh; and  the  political  crime  of  Crichton  and  Livingston 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  303 

was,  like  many  of  the  same  dark  complexion,  committed  in 
vain. 

If  we  look  at  Scotland  generally  during  this  minority, 
it  forms  a  dark  and  disgusting  spectacle.  Feudal  animosi- 
ties were  revived  in  all  corners  of  the  country ;  and  the  bar- 
riers of  the  law  having  been  in  a  great  measure  removed, 
the  land  was  drenched  with  the  blood  of  its  inhabitants,  shed 
by  their  countrymen  and  neighbors.  In  1442  John  Colqu- 
houn,  lord  of  Luss,  was  cut  off,  with  many  of  his  followers, 
by  a  party  of  Highlanders.  In  the  subsequent  year,  the 
sheriff  of  Perth,  Sir  William  Ruthven,  having  arrested  a 
Highland  thief,  and  being  in  the  act  of  leading  him  to  execu- 
tion, a  rescue  was  attempted  by  a  body  of  Athole  mountain- 
eers, headed  by  a  chief  named  John  Gorme,  or  Gormac.1 
The  assailants  were,  however,  defeated,  and  their  leaders 
slain. 

In  the  midst  of  universal  complaint,  bloodshed,  and  con- 
fusion, the  king  was  approaching  his  fourteenth  year  (1444). 
He  was  easily  persuaded,  or  brought  to  persuade  himself, 
that  he  could  govern  more  effectively  without  the  control 
of  Crichton  and  Livingston,  while  the  greater  part  of  his 
subjects  were  at  least  satisfied  that  he  could  not  rule  worse 
than  with  the  assistance  of  such  unscrupulous  counsellors. 
This  produced  a  desire  on  the  part  both  of  the  king  and  his 
subjects  to  dissolve  the  regency;  and  the  Earl  of  Douglas, 
trusting  to  find  his  own  advantage,  and  the  means  of  prose- 
cuting his  revenge  against  Crichton  and  Livingston,  with 
more  art  than  his  house  had  usually  manifested,  resolved 
to  make  personal  advances  to  gain  the  king's  favor,  and 
prosecute  his  course  to  power  rather  as  an  ally  and  minister 
of  the  throne  than  the  avowed  rival  and  antagonist  of  the 
royal  family. 

There  was  an  occasion  shortly  offered  which  afforded 
Douglas  a  graceful  opportunity  of  approaching  the  king's 
person  with  offers  of  service  and  protestations  of  fidelity.  Sir 

1  The  Blue;  so  called,  perhaps,  from  the  color  of  his  dress. 


304  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

Robert  Semple,  sheriff-depute  to  the  Lord  Erskine,  was  in  the 
important  charge  of  Dumbarton  Castle,  while  the  upper  bailie 
of  the  same  fort  was  intrusted  to  Patrick  Galbraith,  a  vassal 
of  the  Earl  of  Douglas.  For  some  unknown  cause  of  sus- 
picion, Semple  deprived  Galbraith  of  his  charge,  and  ordered 
him  to  begone  from  the  castle.  Galbraith  seemed  to  obey; 
but  introducing  a  few  men,  under  pretence  of  removing  his 
furniture  and  household  stuff,  he  suddenly  attacked  Sir  Rob- 
ert Semple,  and  expelled,  or,  as  other  authorities  say,  slew 
him,  and  seized  the  whole  fortress  into  his  own  possession. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas  assumed  an  appearance  of  great  con- 
cern, as  if  Galbraith's  dependence  upon  him  might  occasion 
this  affair  to  be  made  a  handle  against  him  by  his  enemies. 
He  therefore  came  to  court,  submitted  himself  to  the  king's 
will,  placed  his  person  in  the  royal  power  without  reserve, 
and  personated  so  well  the  expressions  and  behavior  of  a  good 
subject,  that  James  was  delighted  to  find  in  the  Earl  of  Doug- 
las, who  had  been  represented  as  a  formidable  rival,  a  vassal 
so  powerful  at  once  and  so  humble.  The  king  received  him 
not  into  favor  only,  but  into  confidential  trust  and  power, 
and  with  the  assistance  received  from  him  easily  succeeded 
in  assuming  the  supreme  authority  into  his  own  hands,  and 
in  displacing  Livingston  and  Crichton,  who  had  governed  in 
James's  name  since  his  father's  death. 

In  modern  times,  the  dismission  of  a  ministry  whose  gov- 
ernment has  lasted  long  and  assumed  an  absolute  character, 
is  usually  followed  by  inquiries  and  impeachments :  in  the 
more  ancient  days,  the  ministers  were  called  to  account  for 
their  power  by  the  terrors  of  a  civil  war.  But  the  late  chan- 
cellor and  governor  were,  as  the  age  required,  soldiers  as 
well  as  statesmen.  Livingston  shut  himself  up  in  the  castle 
of  Stirling,  and  determined  on  resistance ;  the  chancellor  also 
garrisoned  his  castles,  and  stood  upon  his  defence.  Douglas, 
armed  with  the  royal  authority,  marched  against  the  baronial 
castles  of  Crichton  and  of  Barnton,  both  belonging  to  the  late 
chancellor.  These  fortresses  were  held  out  against  the  Doug- 
las's banner  for  several  days,  but  surrendered  when  that  of 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  305 

the  king  was  displayed  before  them.  Douglas  caused  them 
to  be  dismantled. 

But  the  far  more  important  castle  of  Edinburgh  was 
stoutly  defended  by  Sir  William  Crichton  in  person:  nor 
did  he  refrain  from  offensive  measures;  for,  in  revenge  of 
the  mischief  done  by  Douglas  to  his  lands,  he  made  sallies 
out  of  the  castle  with  force  sufficient  to  destroy  the  lands  of 
Abercorn  and  Strabrock,  belonging  to  the  earl.  He  con- 
tinued to  hold  out  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  for  nine  weeks, 
and  at  last  surrendered  it  (1446)  on  the  most  advantageous 
terms.  He  was  confirmed  in  his  honors,  titles  and  posses- 
sions; even  his  office  of  chancellor  was  restored,  to  him. 
He  seems  to  have  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Earl  of  Doug- 
las, and  consented  to  take  a  share  in  his  administration,  sur- 
rendering at  the  same  time  to  the  earl's  resentment  Sir 
Alexander  Livingston,  the  king's  governor. 

This  latter  statesman  was  arrested,  with  many  of  his 
friends;  and  though  his  own  gray  hairs  were  spared,  their 
ransom  was  dearly  purchased  by  the  decapitation  of  his  two 
sons  and  the  destruction  of  his  family.  He  himself  was  im- 
prisoned, and  with  his  kinsmen,  Dundas,  Bruce,  and  others, 
subjected  to  ruinous  fines  and  penalties. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas  now  attained  the  high  dignity  of 
lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom,  and  having  the  universal 
management  of  state  affairs,  failed  not  to  use  his  influence 
for  the  advancement  of  the  over-swollen  importance  of  his 
house.  Three  of  his  brothers  were  created  peers.  Archi- 
bald, by  marrying  with  the  heiress  of  the  Earl  of  Moray, 
succeeded  to  that  title  and  estate;  Hugh  Douglas  was  made 
earl  of  Ormond ;  and  John,  lord  of  Balveny. 

Meantime  the  public  tranquillity  went  to  wreck  on  all 
hands ;  and  one  feud  is  distinguished  by  our  historians  from 
the  rest,  on  account  of  the  number  and  consequence  of  the 
parties  engaged  on  both  sides.  The  powerful  Earl  of  Craw- 
ford, by  countenance  and  aid  of  the  Livingstons,  and  by  as- 
sistance of  the  family  of  Ogilvy,  made  an  inroad  on  the 
property  of  the  bishopric  of  St.  Andrew's,  then  held  by 


306  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

James  Kennedy,  a  near  relation  to  the  king.  For  this  in- 
cursion, the  bishop  excommunicated  the  parties  concerned 
on  all  the  holidays  of  the  year,  with  staff  and  mitre,  book, 
bell,  and  candle.  This,  however,  was  but  empty  vengeance 
on  men  who  made  but  slight  account  of  his  curses.  In  1445, 
a  more  effectual  amends  ensued  from  a  quarrel  between  the 
master  of  Crawford  and  Ogilvy  of  Inverquharity,  the  chief 
of  that  great  name,  about  the  bailiwick  of  Aberbrothock, 
which  the  abbot  had  taken  from  Crawford  and  bestowed 
upon  Ogilvy.  They  assembled  their  forces  on  each  side; 
and  the  parties  having  met  near  the  gates  of  the  town  of 
Aberbrothock,  were  prepared  to  fight  it  out,  headed  by  the 
master  of  Crawford  on  the  one  side  and  Inverquharity  on 
the  other.  The  Gordons,  under  the  Earl  of  Huntley,  arrived 
on  the  field  of  battle,  took  the  part  of  the  Ogilvies,  and  the 
battle  was  about  to  join.  At  this  moment  the  Earl  of  Craw- 
ford rode  forward  between  the  two  bodies,  with  the  purpose 
of  making  terms.  The  master  halted  his  forces  at  his  father's 
command,  and  the  earl  was  advancing  toward  the  Ogilvies, 
when  one  of  them,  ignorant  who  he  was,  rode  at  him  with 
his  lance,  threw  him  to  the  ground,  and  mortally  wounded 
him.  Both  parties  joined  battle  with  mutual  fury,  and  after 
a  fierce  conflict  the  Ogilvies  were  defeated,  and  their  chief 
fell  in  the  action,  while  his  ally  Huntley  only  escaped  by 
flight.  It  gives  an  idea  of  the  fury  of  this  domestic  feud, 
when  we  read  that  in  this  battle  of  Aberbrothock  five  hun- 
dred of  the  vanquished  were  slain  on  the  field.  The  Earl  of 
Crawford  did  not  long  survive  this  bloody  field  of  private 
vengeance ;  and  his  body  lay  for  a  considerable  time  above 
ground,  on  account  of  the  sentence  of  excommunication. 

In  the  midst  of  this  almost  universal  turmoil,  we  may 
notice  the  death  of  Joanna,  the  queen-mother,  who  hardly 
obtained  permission  to  die  in  safety  in  the  castle  of  Dunbar, 
that  of  Hales  being  stormed  and  taken  for  having  afforded 
her  temporary  refuge.  Her  husband,  the  Black  Knight  of 
Lorn,  having  uttered  some  words  reflecting  on  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  saw  himself  compelled  to 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  307 

Scotland.  His  misfortunes  continued  to  attend  him; 
the  bark  in  which  he  sailed  for  France  was  taken  by  a  Flem- 
ish corsair,  and  he  died  shortly  after,  in  a  species  of  captivity. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  who  possessed  the 
warlike  character  of  his  ancestors,  defended  the  country 
against  its  external  enemies  with  better  success  than  that 
with  which  he  maintained  domestic  tranquillity.  The  bor- 
derers, partaking  the  spirit  of  the  unsettled  times,  had  broken 
through  the  truce  by  incursions  on  both  sides;  and  the  dis- 
cordant administrations  of  Henry  VI.  and  James  II.,  who 
strongly  resembled  each  other  in  point  of  cabal  and  internal 
dissension,  found  that  the  two  countries  were  at  war,  even 
without  either  government  intending  it.  On  the  one  side, 
Dumfries  was  burned  by  young  Percy  and  Robert  Ogle;  on 
the  other,  Lord  Balveny,  the  youngest  brother  of  Douglas, 
gave  the  town  of  Alnwick  to  the  flames. 

To  make  a  deeper  impression  on  the  hostile  country,  the 
Earl  of  Huntingdon  and  Lord  Percy  crossed  the  western 
marches  with  about  fifteen  thousand  men.  In  1448,  they 
were  met  by  Douglas  at  the  head  of  a  much  inferior  army, 
who  either  defeated  or  compelled  them  to  retire.  This  foil 
only  animated  the  English  to  a  stronger  effort.  They  as- 
sembled an  army  amounting  to  twenty  thousand  men.  They 
crossed  the  river  Sark  at  low  water,  and  found  themselves 
in  front  of  the  Scottish  force,  under  command  of  Hugh,  earl 
of  Ormond,  another  brother  of  the  Douglas  family.  Sir 
Thomas  Wallace  of  Craigie,  who  seems  to  have  been  sec- 
ond in  command  of  the  Scottish  army,  behaved  himself  with 
distinguished  bravery.  He  was  mortally  wounded  in  lead- 
Ing  the  Scottish  right  wing  to  a  close  conflict  with  the  left 
of  the  English,  which  was  commanded  by  Magnus  Redman, 
governor  of  Berwick,  in  whose  military  skill  the  English 
placed  great  confidence.  The  Scots,  encouraged  by  their 
dying  leader,  pressed  furiously  forward:  Magnus  Redman 
was  slain  in  the  melee,  and  the  English  gave  way.  The 
river  Sark,  now  augmented  by  the  returning  tide,  lay  in 
the  rear  of  the  fugitive  army :  many  were  drowned  in  the 


308  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

attempt  to  cross  it.  The  English  army  lost  three  thousand 
men;  and  the  young  Lord  Percy  and  Sir  John  Pennington 
were  made  prisoners. 

The  truce  was  shortly  after  (1449)  again  renewed  by  the 
English;  and  in  the  treaty  on  the  occasion  both  parties  dis- 
owned having  been  the  cause  of  its  being  broken.  About 
the  same  period,  the  interest  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas  at  the 
Scottish  court  began  to  decline.  It  is  easy  to  imagine  vari- 
ous ways  in  which  the  actions  of  so  overgrown  a  minister 
may  have  given  offence  to  the  king,  who,  being  now  about 
the  age  of  eighteen,  might  perhaps  be  disposed  to  look  upon 
the  earl  as  a  rival  rather  than  a  servant  of  the  throne.  Most 
kings  prefer  those  favorites  whose  fortunes,  however  exor- 
bitant, are  nevertheless  the  work  of  their  own  hands;  and 
the  Douglas's  power  and  splendor  rested  on  hereditary  hon- 
ors and  possessions  which  the  king  could  neither  give  nor 
take  away.  The  misrule  of  the  kingdom  also,  and  the  nu- 
merous and  bitter  feuds  into  which  it  was  divided,  were  uni- 
versally said  to  be  fostered  and  encouraged  under  the  earl's 
influence ;  and  it  was  alleged  that  when  the  worst  of  felons 
was  arrested  for  the  worst  of  crimes  he  might  completely 
secure  himself  by  alleging  that  he  had  done  the  deed  at  the 
command  of  a  Douglas,  or  in  revenge  of  a  Douglas's  quarrel. 

Sir  William  Crichton  also,  who  was  so  long  and  well  ac- 
quainted with  state  affairs,  began  to  recover  the  king's  con- 
fidence ;  and  his  proved  policy  was  employed  in  the  honorable 
commission  of  renewing  the  old  alliance  with  France,  and 
seeking  out  upon  the  Continent  a  befitting  match  for  the 
king.  The  election  fell  on  Mary  of  Guelders,  with  whom 
Philip  of  Burgundy  agreed  to  give  sixty  thousand  crowns 
of  gold  as  the  portion  of  his  kinswoman,  who  had  been  edu- 
cated at  his  court.  The  alliance  with  France  was  renewed, 
and  one  with  Burgundy  was  entered  into.  The  success  of 
Sir  "William  Crichton  in  this  negotiation,  and  the  acceptable 
selection  of  his  bride,  raised  the  old  statesman  still  higher  in 
James's  favor;  and  as  he  acquired  the  royal  confidence,  he 
had  further  opportunities  of  instilling  into  the  sovereign's 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  309 

mind  the  rules  of  policy  on  which  his  father  James  I.  had 
acted,  with  a  view  of  raising  the  power  of  the  crown,  and 
depressing  the  feudal  greatness  of  the  nobility.  These  in- 
structions were  necessarily  unfavorable  to  Douglas. 

A  parliament  was  held  at  Edinburgh  (1450),  providing 
for  the  restoration  of  the  progresses  of  the  justiciary  courts, 
which  had  been  interrupted,  and  denouncing  the  penalties 
of  rebellion  against  all  persons  who  should  presume  to  make 
private  war  on  the  king's  subjects,  declaring  that  the  whole 
force  of  the  country  should  be  led  against  them  if  necessary. 
Severe  laws  were  made  against  spoilers  and  marauders;  and 
regulations  laid  down  that  the  nobility  should  travel  with 
moderate  trains,  to  avoid  oppressing  the  country.  Finally, 
a  statute  was  passed  imposing  the  pains  of  treason  on  any 
who  should  aid  or  supply  with  help  or  counsel  those  who 
were  traitors  to  the  king's  person,  or  who  should  garrison 
houses  in  then*  defence,  or  aid  such  rebels  in  the  assault  of 
castles  or  other  places  where  the  king's  person  should  hap- 
pen to  be  for  the  time.  The  tendency  of  these  laws  shows 
the  predominant  evils  which  had  taken  root  during  the  king's 
minority,  and  the  remedies  by  which,  when  come  to  man's 
estate,  James  II.  proceeded  to  attempt  a  cure. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas,  finding  his  court  favor  upon  the 
wane,  began  to  withdraw  himself  from  the  king's,  and,  in 
despite  of  the  laws  which  had  been  so  lately  enacted,  to  play 
the  independent  prince  in  his  own  country,  which  compre- 
hended all  the  borders  and  great  part  of  the  west  of  Scot- 
land. An  instance  of  his  mode  of  acting  occurred  in  a  feud 
between  Richard  Colville  of  Ochiltree  and  John  Auchinleck 
of  Auchinleck.  The  former,  having  received  some  injuries 
from  Auchinleck,  watched  an  opportunity,  while  his  enemy 
was  journeying  to  wait  upon  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  whose 
follower  he  was,  and  on  the  road  waylaid  and  slew  him. 
Douglas,  considering  this  violence  as  a  personal  insult  to 
himself,  undertaken  perhaps  in  scorn  of  his  diminished 
power,  instantly  beset  Colville's  castle  with  a  body  of  men, 
took  it  by  force,  and  put  the  lord  and  his  garrison  to  the 


310  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

sword  (1449).  This  daring  contempt  of  the  public  law, 
though  colored  over  as  the  vengeance  claimed  by  the  mem- 
ory of  a  worthy  follower,  was  justly  regarded  at  court  as  a 
daring  insult  to  the  royal  authority,  and  so  much  resented 
by  James  that  the  earl  judged  it  prudent  for  a  time  to  absent 
himself,  not  only  from  the  court,  but  from  the  country. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas,  therefore,  in  1450,  undertook  a  pil- 
grimage to  Rome,  which  he  performed  magnificently,  with 
a  retinue  of  six  knights,  fourteen  gentlemen,  and  eighty  at- 
tendants of  inferior  rank.  He  was  received  at  Paris  with 
the  honor  due  to  his  high  family,  and  the  memory  of  his  an- 
cestor who  fell  at  Verneuil  in  the  French  service.  Even  at 
Rome  the  name  of  Douglas  was  respected,  and  the  rude 
magnificence  of  the  earl  who  bore  it  attracted  attention  and 
regard. 

While  Douglas  was  absent  on  his  pilgrimage,  his  vassals 
continued  to  be  disorderly  and  insubordinate  as  before. 
Symington,  the  earl's  bailiff  in  Douglas  Dale,  was  cited  to 
answer  for  the  conduct  of  such  malefactors,  but  contuma- 
ciously refused  to  obey.  Upon  this,  William  Sinclair,  earl 
of  Orkney,  then  chancellor  of  Scotland,  was  sent  to  levy 
distress  on  •  the  rents  and  goods  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  to 
satisfy  those  who  complained  of  injury  from  his  tenants. 
The  chancellor's  mission  met  with  no  success,  for  he  was 
received  only  with  resistance  and  insult.  The  king,  in- 
censed at  this  contumacy  offered  to  the  highest  law-officer 
in  the  realm,  marched  in  person  into  the  disobedient  dis- 
tricts, ravaged  Douglas's  estates,  and  took  possession  of  the 
castles  of  Lochmabane  and  Douglas,  the  last  of  which  he 
razed  to  the  ground. 

When  the  evil  tidings  reached  Rome,  they  struck  such 
alarm  into  the  minds  of  Douglas's  attendants  that  several 
relinquished  their  dependence  on  the  earl  and  left  him.  He 
himself  hastened  homeward,  and  was  so  much  affected  by 
this  instance  of  the  king's  energy  and  activity  that  he  sub- 
mitted himself  to  the  royal  authority,  and  was  graciously 
received. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  311 

The  services  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas  were  used  as  one  of 
the  negotiators  to  adjust  the  continuation  of  the  truce  with 
England;  but  there  is  too  much  reason,  from  his  visiting 
that  country  attended  by  his  three  brothers  and  the  mort 
distinguished  followers  of  his  house,  that  he  even  then  medi- 
tated some  intercourse  of  a  secret  and  treasonable  character. 
The  English  ministry,  however,  occupied  by  the  internal 
commotions  which  soon  after  broke  out  in  the  dreadful  civil 
war  of  York  and  Lancaster,  received  Douglas  with  distinc- 
tion, but  did  not  choose  to  become  accessory  to  his  intrigues. 

Returning  to  his  native  country,  the  haughty  earl  at- 
tempted to  clear  his  way  to  court  favor  by  attacking  and 
cutting  off  Sir  William  Crichton,  his  old  rival  and  enemy,  as 
he  travelled  from  his  castle  of  Crichton  toward  Edinburgh. 
An  ambuscade  of  the  Douglas  followers  beset  the  road,  and 
broke  out  on  the  now  aged  chancellor  with  shouts  and  cries. 
But,  encouraged  by  the  presence  of  his  son,  a  valiant  young 
man,  the  old  statesman  stood  to  his  weapon,  and,  after  kill- 
ing one  and  disabling  another  of  the  assailants,  effected  his 
retreat  back  to  Crichton.  The  old  man  had  borne  the  high- 
est offices  of  the  state  too  long  to  endure  this  wrong  unre- 
venged :  he  gathered  a  strong  body  of  friends  and  adherents, 
and  marched  to  Edinburgh  with  such  secrecy  and  despatch 
that  he  had  nearly  surprised  Douglas,  who  lay  there  with  a 
small  retinue;  and,  despite  his  pride  and  power,  the  earl  was 
compelled  to  fly  from  the  metropolis  in  his  turn. 

Both  parties,  stimulated  by  mutual  Injuries  and  insults, 
seemed  now  prepared  to  combat  to  extremity.  The  Earl 
of  Douglas  retired  altogether  from  the  court;  and  that  he 
might  strengthen  his  cause,  which  he  represented  as  that 
of  the  aristocracy  in  general,  he  entered  into  a  private  cor- 
respondence with  the  Earls  of  Crawford  and  Ross,  the  most 
powerful  and  independent  Scottish  nobles,  after  Douglas 
himself,  and  possessing  the  same  power  in  the  centre  and 
north  of  Scotland  which  the  earl  exercised  on  the  frontiers. 
He  also  used  his  influence  upon  such  men  of  consequence 
as  li ved  in  those  countries  over  which  he  had  authority,  to 


312  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

compel  them,  though  diametrically  contrary  to  law,  to  exe- 
cute leagues  and  bonds,  by  which  they  engaged  themselvep 
to  support  each  other,  and  to  make  common  cause  with  the 
Douglas  against  all  mortals  besides.  Those  who  declined  to 
comply  with  Douglas's  pleasure  in  this  matter  were  sure, 
more  or  less  directly,  to  feel  the  force  of  his  vengeance, 
which  a  wide  authority  over  the  border  countries,  filled 
with  strong  clans  of  habitual  marauders,  enabled  him  to 
accomplish,  without  the  earl  himself  appearing  active  in 
the  matter. 

A  remarkable  instance  of  this  occurred  in  the  case  of 
John  Herries,  a  man  of  power  in  Nithsdale,  who,  having 
declined  to  engage  as  an  ally  and  follower  of  the  Douglas, 
in  the  manner  required,  beheld  his  lauds  plundered  by  a 
body  of  banditti  from  Douglas  Dale.  Having  repeatedly 
applied  to  Douglas  for  satisfaction  for  this  injury,  Herries 
at  length,  consulting  rather  his  spirit  than  his  strength, 
endeavored  to  revenge  the  wrong  by  retaliation.  But  in 
an  attempt  to  invade  Annandale,  he  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  defeated  and  made  prisoner  by  Douglas,  who  cast  him 
into  irons,  and,  despite  the  king's  personal  interposition  in 
his  behalf,  by  letter  and  message,  caused  him  to  be  igno- 
miniously  hanged. 

A  case  of  'even  greater  atrocity  was  that  of  the  tutor  or 
guardian  of  the  young  Laird  of  Bombie,  called  M'Lellan, 
who  had,  like  the  unfortunate  Herries,  declined  to  acknowl- 
edge the  usurped  authority  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  and  be- 
came therefore  obnoxious  to  his  vengeance.  This  he  was 
not  long  of  feeling.  In  1451,  Douglas  besieged  the  house 
or  castle  of  the  family,  took  the  tutor  of  Bombie,  as  he  was 
called,  prisoner,  and  carried  him  to  Douglas  Castle,  or,  as 
others  say,  to  that  of  the  Thrieve  in  Galloway,  and  there 
threw  him  into  close  confinement.  The  unhappy  prisoner 
was  the  nephew  of  Sir  Patrick  Gray,  captain  of  the  king's 
bodyguard,  an  institution  which  we  hear  of  for  the  first  time 
in  this  reign,  but  which  the  complexion  of  the  times,  and  the 
cruel  murder  of  James  I.,  had  rendered  but  too  necessary. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  313 

Anxious  to  avert  the  too  probable  fate  of  his  relation,  this 
officer,  who  was  doubtless  by  his  office  especially  familiar 
with  the  king,  obtained  from  James  II.  letters  to  the  Earl  of 
Douglas,  written  in  the  most  amicable  tone  of  intercession, 
entreating  rather  than  commanding  that  he  would  yield  the 
captive  in  safety  to  Gray.     The  sudden  appearance  of  the 
captain  of  the  king's  guard  at  his  castle,  joined  with  the  rec- 
ollection of  Sir  Patrick's  connection  with  the  tutor  of  Bombie, 
apprised  Douglas  how  the  case  stood.     He  avoided  immedi- 
ately entering  on  business  with  Gray,  until  he  had  called  for 
some  refreshment ;  and  while  he  pressed  him  to  partake  of 
the  cheer,  which,  with  an  affectation  of  hospitality,  was 
presently  set  before  him,  he  caused  the  prisoner  to  be  pri- 
vately led  out  into  the  courtyard  before  the  castle  and  there 
beheaded.    Meanwhile,  Sir  Patrick  Gray's  meal  being  ended, 
the  earl  at  last  consented  to  open  the  king's  letters,  and 
seemed  much  gratified  by  their  contents.     "What  the  king 
requires  of  me,"  said  he,  "shall  be  granted  as  fully  as  cir- 
cumstances admit."     So  saying,  he  led  Sir  Patrick  to  the 
place  of  execution,  where  the  unfortunate  tutor  of  Bombie's 
corpse  still  lay  with  a  cloth  spread  over  it.     "Sir  Patrick," 
said  the  earl,  "you  are  come  a  little  too  late:   yonder  lies 
your  sister's  son ;  but  he  wants  the  head.     You  are  at  lib- 
erty to  take  his  body,  if  you  will."     With  a  sad  heart,  Sir 
Patrick  Gray  replied,  "My  lord,  since  you  have  taken  the 
head,  you  may  dispose  of  the  body  at  your  pleasure."     He 
then  mounted  his  good  horse,  and,  unable  any  longer  to  sup- 
press his  burning  sense  of  the  insult  and  injury  with  which 
he  had  been  treated,  he  sternly  said,  "My  lord,  if  I  live,  you 
shall  be  rewarded  according  to  your  demerits  for  this  day's 
work."       The  earl,  incensed  at  these  words,  instantly  called 
to  horse;  and  though  Sir  Patrick  Gray  rode  off  upon  the 
spur  so  soon  as  he  had  uttered  the  threat,  he  was  chased 

1  This  circumstance  renders  it  most  probable  that  the  castle  of  Doug- 
las was  the  scene  of  this  strange  incident:  that  of  the  Thrieve  being  sit- 
uated on  an  island,  Sir  Patrick  Gray  could  not  have  escaped  from  it  on 
horseback. 

14  <+  VOL.  I. 


314  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

by  the  followers  of  the  Douglas  till  near  to  Edinburgh,  and 
would  have  been  taken  but  for  the  excellence  of  his  led 
horse. 

It  is  probable  that  this  piece  of  cruelty,  accompanied  with 
such  a  marked  degree  of  contempt,  not  only  to  the  laws  but 
to  the  person  of  the  king,  filled  up  the  cup  of  James's  resent- 
ment against  the  Earl  of  Douglas.  Still  the  extreme  power 
which  rendered  this  overgrown  noble  so  presumptuous  made 
it  perilous  for  the  king  to  enter  into  open  war  against  him. 
It  was  therefore  determined  by  Crichton  and  others,  who 
shared  in  the  king's  more  secret  councils,  that  the  king 
should  affect  an  appearance  of  goodwill  toward  the  earl, 
and  invite  him  to  court,  with  assurances  that  none  of  his 
past  enormities  should  be  inquired  into,  and  that  a  recon- 
ciliation should  be  effected,  on  the  footing  of  Douglas's 
forbearing  such  aggressions  against  the  royal  authority  in 
future. 

By  what  allurements  the  king  and  his  counsellors  were 
able  to  lull  to  rest  the  suspicions  which  Douglas,  conscious 
of  his  own  demerits,  must  have  entertained  of  James's  feel- 
ings toward  one  by  whom  he  had  been  publicly  insulted,  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.  It  appears  that  religion,  too 
often  employed  as  the  most  efficient  mask  of  sinister  de- 
signs, was  not  spared  on  the  occasion ;  and  that  Sir  William 
Crichton  and  Sir  Patrick  Gray  had  proposed  to  accompany 
Douglas  and  his  brother  James,  with  Lord  Hamilton,  his 
most  powerful  and  faithful  follower,  upon  a  pilgrimage  to 
Canterbury.  Although  a  safe-conduct  was  granted  by  the 
English  government  for  permitting  this  party  of  mingled 
royalists  with  Douglas  and  his  followers  to  approach  the 
shrine  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  there  was  probably  no  intention 
that  it  should  ever  be  made  use  of.  The  mutual  pilgrimage 
was,  in  all  likelihood,  only  proposed  as  one  means  of  making 
evident  the  sincerity  of  Crichton  and  others,  since  the  offer 
seemed  to  infer  that  these  ministers  of  the  king  did  not  fear 
to  accompany  Douglas  and  his  brother  amid  the  various  and 
doubtful  incidents  to  which,  in  so  long  a  journey,  they  must 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  315 

have  been  exposed.  Neither  was  it  uncommon  for  ancient 
enemies  to  testify  the  reality  of  a  reconciliation  by  perform- 
ing acts  of  devotion  in  company. 

The  various  hopes  and  inducements  which  were  held  out 
to  Douglas,  whatever  was  their  precise  character,  were  such 
as,  joined  with  a  spirit  which  set  him  above  personal  doubt 
or  fear,  induced  the  earl  to  visit  the  court  in  Lent,  1452.  It 
was  then  held  in  Stirling  Castle.  But  Douglas  was  not  so 
confident  in  the  sincerity  of  his  recent  reconciliation  with  the 
court  as  to  venture  himself  within  the  king's  power  without 
an  assurance  of  safety.  He  was  accordingly  furnished  with 
letters  from  the  principal  persons  at  court,  promising  to  be 
his  warrant  against  any  treachery,  and,  according  to  some 
authors,  was  also  furnished  with  an  ample  safe-conduct 
under  the  great  seal.  His  security  thus  provided  for,  the 
earl  repaired  to  Stirling  with  his  five  brethren  and  a  large 
band  of  his  followers.  Upon  Shrove  Tuesday  he  was  hon- 
ored with  an  invitation  to  sup  with  James  in  the  castle, 
which  he  accepted  without  suspicion.  Douglas  was  kindly 
received  by  the  king,  and  the  evening  passed  away  in  mirth 
and  festivity.  As  they  rose  from  the  supper-table,  about 
eight  in  the  evening,  the  king  led  the  earl  apart  into  the 
recess  of  a  deep  window  and  began  to  expostulate  with  him 
on  his  late  irregularities.  No  one  was  near  them;  but  some 
of  the  privy-councillors  and  Sir  Patrick  Gray,  with  a  few  of 
the  royal  guards,  were  in  the  body  of  the  apartment.  At 
length  in  the  course  of  his  argument  the  king  touched  upon 
the  bond  or  league  in  which  Douglas  had  engaged  with  the 
Earls  of  Crawford  and  Ross,  and  earnestly  urged  him  to  re- 
nounce it  as  a  confederacy  inconsistent  with  his  allegiance, 
dangerous  to  the  state,  and  contrary  to  the  express  law  of 
the  realm.  The  earl  haughtily  replied  that,  his  faith  being 
once  pledged  to  that  bond  as  a  solemn  engagement,  he  could 
not  with  his  honor  renounce  it,  nor  would  he  do  so  for  the 
words  of  any  living  man.  "By  Heaven,  then,"  said  the 
king,  his  wrath  being  excited  to  the  uttermost  by  the  obsti- 
nate and  disrespectful  answer  of  the  earl,  "if  you  will  not 


316  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

break  the  confederacy,  this  shall."  So  saying,  he  drew  his 
dagger  and  plunged  it  in  Douglas's  body.  Sir  Patrick  Gray 
came  to  the  assistance  of  the  king,  and,  not  unmindful  of  his 
vow  of  revenge,  beat  Douglas  down  with  his  battle-axe,  and 
all  the  courtiers  present  attested  their  approbation  of  the 
deed,  by  striking  their  knives  and  daggers  into  the  too 
powerful  subject,  who  lay  now  a  corpse  at  the  feet  of  his 
sovereign. 

The  character  of  James  II.  suffered  a  great  stain  by  the 
death  of  Douglas,  slain  by  his  own  hand  while  the  royal 
guest,  under  sanction  of  the  public  faith.  But  circumstances 
acquit  the  king  of  the  premeditated  guilt  of  the  action,  and 
show  it  to  have  been  the  furious  explosion  of  a  sudden  gust 
of  passion,  which,  if  pardonable  in  any  person,  may  plead 
some  excuse  in  the  case  of  a  prince  braved  to  the  face  by 
his  subject.  Indeed,  what  end  could  the  king  or  his  coun- 
sellors propose  to  themselves  by  taking  the  earl's  life,  when 
in  the  very  town  of  Stirling,  at  the  moment  of  the  deed,  he 
had  five  surviving  brothers,  men  of  undaunted  courage  and 
resolution,  the  eldest  of  whom  must  have  succeeded,  as  in 
fact  he  did,  to  the  full  power  of  the  slaughtered  earl?  Such 
a  crime,  therefore,  could  only  be  the  means  of  instantly  pre- 
cipitating that  dreadful  struggle  between  the  crown  and  the 
aristocracy  which  it  was  the  interest  of  the  court  to  delay  till 
some  more  favorable  opportunity,  and  which  would  certainly 
be  most  impoliticly  commenced  by  an  act  carrying  with  it 
the  disadvantage  of  exposing  the  king  to  a  charge  of  perfidy 
or  breach  of  faith.  If,  however,  it  is  to  be  believed  that  the 
death  of  Douglas  was  a  premeditated  action,  it  is  still  cer- 
tain that  the  manner  in  which  it  was  perpetrated  must  have 
arisen  out  of  accident,  since  there  occur  so  many  obvious 
reasons  why  other  agency  than  that  of  the  king  himself 
should  have  been  employed  for  his  removal,  and  in  finding 
such  there  could  have  been  no  difficulty. 

But  the  reader  may  demand,  what  could  be  the  purpose 
of  James,  if  not  to  rid  himself  of  his  turbulent  subject  by 
death?  If  we  are  to  substitute  conjecture  where  certainty 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  317 

is  not  to  be  had,  we  may  suggest  the  probability  that  the 
king  had  determined  to  arrest  Douglas  in  case  he  was  found 
intractable,  and  to  detain  him  a  hostage  for  the  quiet  de- 
meanor of  his  family,  until  his  league  with  the  northern 
earls  was  broken  and  the  height  of  his  dangerous  power 
was  in  some  degree  diminished.  There  might  be  in  this 
device  some  part  of  the  policy,  as  well  as  the  unscrupulous 
breach  of  faith,  which  characterized  the  politics  of  such  a 
statesman  as  Crichton ;  and  considering  the  vehement  char- 
acter of  James  II.  and  the  stubborn  and  presumptuous  dis- 
position of  the  earl,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how,  in  a  personal 
interview  between  two  such  hot  and  passionate  spirits,  the 
intended  purpose  of  arrest  should  have  been  changed  for  one 
of  a  more  bloody  and  decisive  character. 

The  five  brothers  of  the  slaughtered  earl,  on  hearing  his 
fate,  instantly  assembled  themselves,  and,  with  the  friends 
of  their  powerful  family,  recognized  the  eldest  of  their 
number  as  Earl  of  Douglas,  being  the  last  that  was  fated 
to  wear  that  formidable  title.  The  assembly  vowed  revenge 
for  the  blood  of  Earl  William;  but,  instead  of  pressing  an 
instant  siege  of  Stirling  Castle,  ere  it  was  supplied  with  pro- 
visions or  means  of  defence,  they  agreed  to  meet  there  in 
arms  on  the  25th  day  of  March.  They  assembled  accord- 
ingly* bringing  with  them  the  safe-conduct  granted  to  Earl 
William,  which  they  dragged  in  scorn  at  the  tail  of  a  lean 
cart-horse ;  and  in  further  reprobation  of  the  king's  treach- 
ery, they  proclaimed  him  and  his  advisers  and  accomplices 
in  the  death  of  Douglas  false,  perjured,  and  forsworn  men, 
while  four  hundred  horns  blew  out  at  once  to  attest  the  fact 
thus  formally  promulgated.  They  then  burned  the  town  of 
Stirling,  but  drew  off  their  forces,  as  finding  themselves  still 
unable  to  attempt  the  siege  of  the  castle,  so  that  the  king 
obtained  some  breathing-space  to  improve  his  affairs  in  a 
very  dangerous  crisis. 

Several  of  the  nobility,  seeing  it  absolutely  necessary  to 
take  a  part  in  the  approaching  contest,  declared  for  the  law- 
ful authority  of  the  crown,  feeling,  probably,  that  the  con- 


818  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

trol  of  a  sovereign  prince  was  more  honorable  certainly,  and 
not  likely  to  be  so  severe  as  that  of  the  House  of  Douglas. 
Among  those  who  held  such  opinions  was  an  important  chief 
of  the  House  of  Douglas  itself,  namely,  the  Earl  of  Angus, 
who,  being  nearly  related  to  the  king,  preferred  the  royal 
service  "to  that  of  the  head  of  his  own  house.  The  Lord 
Douglas  of  Dalkeith  also  held  out  his  castle,  so  named, 
against  the  fiercest  attacks  of  the  earl  his  namesake  and 
kinsman.  The  king's  most  powerful  adherent  was,  how- 
ever, Alexander  Gordon,  the  first  earl  of  Huntley,  who 
arrayed  under  the  royal  standard  a  great  part  of  the  north- 
ern barons,  and  marched  southward  at  their  head  toward 
Stirling. 

The  Earl  of  Crawford  was,  however,  faithful  to  his  bond 
of  alliance,  though  Douglas,  with  whom  it  had  been  con- 
tracted, was  no  more.  Being  cited  to  justify  himself  against 
an  accusation  of  treason,  he  refused  to  obey,  and  assembling 
a  strong  army  of  his  friends  hi  Fifeshire  and  Angusshire,  he 
took  post  at  Brechin,  in  order  to  intercept  Huntley  on  his 
march  toward  Stirling.  On  the  evening  before  the  expected 
battle,  Huntley,  that  his  men  might  have  more  spirit  in  the 
encounter  the  next  day,  distributed  many  fair  lands  among 
the  leaders  of  his  army.  Crawford  followed  a  more  nig- 
gardly policy.  Collasse  of  Balnamoon,  or  Bonnymoon,  who 
commanded  a  select  division  of  axemen  and  billmen  in  the 
earl's  army,  feeling  his  own  importance,  requested  of  the 
earl,  who  was  superior  of  his  lands,  that  he  would  enter  his 
son  as  vassal  in  the  fief,  which  Crawford  sternly  refused 
to  do.  Collasse  retired  in  discontent.  The  fight  on  the 
morrow,  May  18,  1452,  commenced  with  great  fury,  and 
the  men  of  Angus  attacked  the  northern  troops  so  furiously 
as  forced  them  to  recoil,  and  placed  the  king's  standard  in 
danger.  At  this  critical  moment,  John  Collasse,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  have  sustained  the  assailants,  led  his  division 
of  billmen  out  of  the  line,  and  exposed  the  centre  of  Craw- 
ford's army  without  support,  while  the  left  wing  engaged 
with  the  enemy.  Huntley  instantly  availed  himself  of  the 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  319 

opportunity  to  assault  and  break  the  troops  who  were  thus 
laid  open.  The  fortune  of  the  field  was  thus  changed,  and 
the  defeated  Earl  of  Crawford  retreated  in  great  displeasure 
to  his  house  at  Finhaven.  A  gentleman  of  Huntley's  army 
is  said  to  have  pursued  the  vanquished  earl  so  closely,  that 
he  at  last  became  completely  involved  in  a  crowd  of  the 
immediate  attendants  of  Lord  Crawford,  and  finding  it 
necessary  for  his  safety  to  pass  for  one  of  the  number,  he 
followed  them  in  that  character  into  the  house  of  Finhaven, 
where  he  heard  the  earl  say  he  would  have  been  content  to 
have  purchased  that  day's  victory,  though  it  were  at  the 
penalty  of  seven  years'  residence  hi  the  infernal  regions. 
The  gentleman  brought  back  these  words  to  King  James, 
with  a  silver  cup,  bearing  the  Earl  of  Crawford's  arms, 
which  he  had  subtracted  from  the  sideboard  in  the  confu- 
sion,  to  be  a  voucher  of  his  strange  adventure. 

The  Earl  of  Huntley  did  not  derive  much  immediate 
advantage  from  his  victory.  He  was  instantly  recalled  to 
the  north,  by  the  intelligence  that  the  Earl  of  Murray,  one 
of  the  brethren  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas,  had  burned  his  castle 
of  Strathbogie,  and  was  ravaging  his  estates :  so  that  Craw- 
ford remained  in  Angus  as  arbitrary  as  before,  spoiling  the 
lands  and  destroying  the  houses  of  such  as  had  joined  the 
king  or  Huntley  against  him.  Despairing,  however,  of 
making  an  effectual  resistance  against  the  sovereign  au- 
thority, this  bold  and  fierce  lord  at  length  submitted  him- 
self in  the  most  humble  manner  to  the  king's  mercy,  and 
was  received  with  some  degree  of  favor.  The  king  rode 
to  visit  him  at  the  house  of  Finhaven,  where  he  was  duti- 
fully and  respectfully  entertained;  and  James  is  said  to 
have  thrown  a  flagstone  from  the  battlements  of  the  castle 
down  into  the  ditch,  that  he  might,  without  injury  to  the 
earl  or  his  mansion,  fulfil  a  vow  which  he  had  made  in  his 
anger,  that  he  would  make  the  highest  stone  of  that  house 
the  lowest. 

Shortly  afterward  (1454)  some  species  of  peace  or  truce 
seems  to  have  been  patched  up  between  the  king  and  the 


320  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Earl  of  Douglas,  with  little  sincerity  on  either  side,  but  from 
a  feeling  of  unwillingness  in  both  to  carry  to  extremity  a 
contest  which  must  inevitably  terminate  hi  the  destruction 
of  the  House  of  Douglas  or  that  of  Stewart,  now  exasperated 
by  mutual  wrongs,  and  placed  in  the  most  direct  opposition 
to  each  other.  But  the  pause  of  a  few  months  again  awak- 
ened the  contending  families  to  contention,  which  had  never 
perhaps  been  actually  suspended,  but  was  now  to  be  final 
and  decisive.  The  forces  of  the  parties  stood  thus  matched: 

In  the  north  the  king's  interest  predominated,  though 
not  without  a  struggle;  Huntley  having  been  defeated  by 
Murray,  at  a  swampy  spot  called  the  Bog  of  Dunkintie. 
The  consequence  of  these  feuds  to  the  community  at  large 
may  be  guessed  by  the  fate  of  the  town  of  Elgin.  One  part 
of  the  town  was  burned  by  the  Earl  of  Murray  as  the  prop- 
erty of  citizens  who  favored  the  Gordon:  Huntley  having 
recovered  the  superiority  in  his  turn,  it  is  most  likely  the 
other  half  was  consumed  as  houses  belonging  to  adherents 
of  Douglas.  Meantime  both  Murray  and  Ormond  felt  in 
the  long  run  unequal  to  defend  themselves  in  the  north 
against  the  families  of  distinction  who  joined  the  king's 
standard,  and  they  both  retreated  to  the  Hebrides. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas,  after  the  temporary  reconcilement 
with  his  sovereign,  had  retreated  to  England  with  several 
members  of  his  family,  and  particularly  with  Margaret, 
called  the  Fair  Maiden  of  Galloway,  widow  of  the  murdered 
Earl  William,  whose  hand,  notwithstanding  their  near  rela- 
tionship, the  present  earl  was  desirous  to  secure,  on  account 
of  the  rich  dowry  that  was  attached  to  possessing  it.  The 
dispensation  which  was  necessary  to  authorize  a  marriage 
so  objectionable  was  applied  for  at  Rome;  but,  through  the 
interest,  doubtless,  of  the  Scottish  king,  it  was  refused.  The 
earl  endeavored  to  effect  a  union  with  her,  even  without 
leave  of  the  Church;  but  the  lady  in  disgust  fled  to  the 
Scottish  king,  and  accused  Douglas  of  having  pressed  a 
union  upon  her,  and  even  made  a  pretended  celebration  of 
nuptials,  though  without  the  license  of  the  pope. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  321 

For  this  and  other  causes  Earl  Douglas  was,  in  1454, 
summoned  to  appear  before  the  king's  privy-council,  or  per- 
haps before  the  parliament.  He  answered  by  a  placard 
nailed  secretly  on  the  church  doors  and  cross  of  Edinburgh, 
upbraiding  the  king  with  having  murdered  two  chiefs  of  the 
family  of  Douglas,  and  bidding  him  defiance.  James  II. 
retaliated  this  contumacy  by  immediately  raising  a  small 
army  of  "Westland  men  and  Highlanders,  with  which  he  rav- 
aged the  territories  of  Douglas,  and  destroyed  the  crop. 
Next  spring  the  spoiling  of  the  country  was  renewed. 
Finally,  the  king,  as  a  decisive  blow,  sent  the  Earls  of 
Orkney  and  Angus,  with  a  considerable  army,  to  lay  siege 
to  Abercorn,  a  strong  castle  of  the  Douglas's,  situated  about 
ten  miles  from  Edinburgh.  The  Earl  of  Douglas,  on  his 
part,  had  almost  absolute  authority  upon  the  borders,  and 
it  cost  him  little  more  than  the  waving  of  his  banner  to  col- 
lect an  army  of  forty  thousand  men,  who  were  rendered  by 
their  very  birth  and  situation  soldiers  from  the  cradle.  With 
this  predominant  force  the  Earl  of  Douglas  advanced  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Abercorn,  and  gage  the  fortunes  of  his  princely 
house  against  those  of  a  crowned  king  and  the  subjects  who 
adhered  to  him. 

James  himself  is  said  to  have  shrunk  from  the  contest 
when  he  looked  on  it  more  closely ;  and  there  were  moments 
of  despondency,  in  which  he  spoke  of  abandoning  Scotland. 
Sir  William  Crichton,  his  subtle  but  apparently  faithful  min- 
ister, had  died  before  these  second  tumults  commenced ;  but 
he  had  a  wise  and  able  counsellor  in  James  Kennedy,  arch- 
bishop of  Saint  Andrew's,  to  whose  advice  he  listened  on 
this  occasion.  This  sagacious  prelate  reminded  James  that 
the  camp  of  the  Douglas,  though  containing  a  very  large 
host,  consisted  of  numerous  chieftains  who  followed  the 
insurgent  earl  not  from  attachment,  but  either  out  of  awe 
for  his  power,  or  hopes  that  they  might  gain  something  in 
the  conflict.  Could  the  expectations  and  fears  of  such  per- 
sons be  withdrawn  from  Douglas  and  fixed  on  the  king,  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  transferring  their  allegiance  to  tho 


322  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

crown.  "The  foe,"  said  the  sagacious  prelate,  "are  like  a 
sheaf  of  arrows :  while  they  remain  bound  together,  it  were 
vain  to  attempt  to  break  them;  but  sever  the  tie  which 
unites  them  together,  and  a  child  may  shiver  them  one 
after  another." 

Acting  upon  the  counsel  which  he  gave,  the  primate 
undertook  to  lop  a  main  limb  from  the  Douglas's  enterprise, 
by  a  private  communication  with  Hamilton,  who  commanded 
a  chosen  body  of  troops  in  Douglas's  army.  He  had  been 
the  uniform  and  attached  friend  of  Earl  "William  of  Douglas, 
murdered  at  Stirling,  and  was  now  that  of  Earl  James.  But 
he  began  to  perceive  that  the  latter  had  too  little  of  the  deci- 
sive character  belonging  to  his  house,  to  bring  the  present 
conflict  to  an  honorable  or  advantageous  issue.  He  listened, 
therefore,  but  did  not  close  immediately  with  the  proposal 
of  the  archbishop  that  he  should  embrace  the  royal  party, 
and  he  hesitated  between  the  sense  of  what  was  most  for  his 
own  interest  and  personal  advantage,  and  that  which  friend- 
ship and  honor  required  of  him. 

The  king  now  advanced  with  his  host,  and  Douglas  drew 
out  his  forces  to  meet  him.  The  king's  heralds,  advancing, 
charged  the  rebels  to  disperse,  under  the  pains  of  treason ; 
and  though  Douglas  returned  a  scornful  answer,  he  saw  the 
royal  proclamation  had  such  influence  on  his  army  that  he 
was  induced  to  suspend  the  impending  action  till  next  day, 
and  lead  his  troops  back  into  his  intrenchments.  Douglas 
had  no  sooner  entered  his  pavilion  than  Hamilton  requested 
to  speak  with  him,  and  demanded  positive  information 
whether  it  was  the  earl's  purpose  to  fight  or  no,  declaring 
it  was  high  time  they  should  know  his  mind,  since,  while 
the  royal  army  was  every  day  increasing,  theirs  was  thinned 
by  constant  desertion.  "If  you  are  tired,"  answered  Doug- 
las, without  further  explanation  of  his  intention,  "you  are 
welcome  to  be  gone."  Hamilton  took  the  earl  at  his  word, 
and  that  very  night  passed  over  to  the  royal  camp  from  that 
of  Douglas  with  the  chosen  troops  which  he  commanded, 
being  three  hundred  horse  and  as  many  infantry.  The 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  323 

example  was  contagious,  for  the  character  of  Hamilton  for 
prudence  and  sagacity  stood  very  high.  All  the  chiefs  con- 
sidered his  change  of  sides  as  an  example  tending  to  show 
them  the  only  possible  mode  of  escaping  from  ruin,  and 
contended  which  should  be  the  first  to  act  upon  it.  The 
army  of  the  insurgents  dissolved  like  a  snow-wreath  in  a 
sudden  thaw,  and  on  the  fateful  morning  succeeding  that 
in  which  the  Earl  Douglas  led  out  a  host  of  nearly  forty  thou- 
sand men,  his  empty  camp  scarce  contained  a  hundred  sol- 
diers save  his  own  household  troops. 

The  secession  of  Hamilton  to  the  royal  cause  was  deserv- 
edly regarded  as  excellent  service.  He  was,  for  appearance* 
sake,  put  in  ward  for  a  while  at  Roslin,  under  the  charge 
of  the  Earl  of  Orkney.  But  the  king's  favor  was  shown 
to  him  by  large  grants  of  forfeited  estates,  and  by  the  title 
of  Lord  of  Parliament,  which  raised  first  to  nobility  the  great 
ducal  House  of  Hamilton. 

The  Earl  of  Douglas  broke  up  his  camp  and  withdrew 
with  his  diminished  squadrons  to  take  refuge  in  the  wildest 
districts  of  the  border,  where  they  lurked  as  exiles  and  fugi- 
tives in  the  countries  which  they  had  lately  commanded  with 
sovereign  power.  The  castle  of  Abercorn,  despairing  of  re- 
lief, soon  surrendered,  and  of  the  defenders  some  principal 
persons  were  put  to  death  for  holding  out  the  place  against 
the  king.  James  II.  proceeded  to  march  his  army  through 
the  west  and  south  of  Scotland,  where  his  powerful  oppo- 
nents had  lately  been  proprietors  of  the  soil,  and  leaders,  if 
not  tyrants,  of  the  people,  and  with  slight  resistance  reduced 
all  the  strong  places  of  the  Douglases  to  his  own  authority. 
Douglas  Castle  itself,  that  of  Strathaven,  and  that  of  the 
Thrieve,  were  in  this  manner  taken  and  demolished. 

About  the  same  time,  and  while  the  king  was  making  his 
triumphal  progress,  Douglas  himself  fled  into  England  with 
a  very  few  attendants.  His  three  brothers,  Moray,  Ormond, 
and  Balveny,  remained  on  the  borders  at  the  head  of  the  re- 
mains of  the  followers  of  their  family,  and  maintained  them 
by  military  license.  This,  and  the  hope  of  benefiting  by  their 


324  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

forfeitures,  aroused  against  them  the  clan  of  Scott,  already, 
under  their  chief,  Buccleuch,  rising  into  formidable  distinc- 
tion in  the  west  and  middle  marches.  The  Beattiesons,  a 
numerous  and  bold  people,  with  other  borderers,  united  un- 
der the  leading  of  Scott.  All  these  clans  had  been  lately 
numbered  among  the  vassals  of  Douglas,  and  had  owned  his 
authority;  but  the  failure  before  Abercorn  had  emboldened 
them  to  throw  off  the  yoke,  and  bid  defiance  to  the  banners 
under  which  they  had  at  no  distant  period  ranked  them- 
selves. A  conflict  took  place  at  Arkinholm,  near  Langbolm, 
May  1,  1455,  where  the  bands  of  Douglas  were  totally  de- 
feated by  these  border  clans.  The  Earl  of  Moray  was  slain; 
the  Earl  of  Ormond  taken  prisoner,  condemned,  and  exe- 
cuted; and  of  the  brethren  of  Douglas  the  Lord  Balveny 
alone  escaped  into  England. 

The  history  of  this,  the  last  of  the  original  branch  of  the 
Douglas  family,  may  as  well  be  terminated  here.  Having 
dur'ng  his  prosperity  maintained  a  close  intercourse  with  the 
House  of  York,  who  were  then  in  power,  Douglas  was  hos- 
pitably received  in  England.  In  the  year  1483,  he,  with  the 
Duke  of  Albany,  then  a  banished  noble  like  himself,  made 
an  incursion  into  Scotland,  having  vowed  they  would  make 
their  offer  on  the  high  altar  of  Lochmaben  upon  St.  Mag- 
dalen's Day.  The  west  border  men  rose  to  repel  the  incur- 
sion. The  exiles  were  defeated,  and  the  Earl  of  Douglas 
struck  from  his  horse.  Surrounded  by  enemies,  and  seeing 
on  the  field  a  son  of  Kirkpatrick  of  Closeburn,  once  his  own 
follower,  the  earl  surrendered  himself  to  him  in  preference 
to  others,  that,  as  an  old  friend,  he  might  profit  by  the  re- 
ward of  one  hundred  pound  land  '  set  upon  his  head.  Kirk- 
patrick wept  to  see  the  extremity  to  which  his  old  master  was 
reduced,  and  offered  to  set  him  at  liberty  and  fly  with  him 
into  England.  But  Douglas,  weary  of  exile,  was  resigned 
to  his  fate.  When  the  aged  prisoner  came  before  the  king, 
James  III.  commanded  him  to  be  put  into  the  cloister  at 

1  A  one  hundred  pound  land  is  a  Scottish  phrase. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  325 

Lindores.  The  earl  only  replied,  "He  that  may  no  better 
must  be  a  monk."  He  assumed  the  tonsure  accordingly, 
and  died  about  1488. 

Thus,  after  an  obscure  conflict  with  those  who  had  been 
BO  lately  its  dependents,  fell,  and  forever,  the  formidable 
power  of  the  House  of  Douglas,  which  had  so  lately  meas- 
ured itself  against  that  of  monarchy.  It  can  only  be  com- 
pared to  the  gourd  of  the  prophet,  which,  spreading  with 
such  miraculous  luxuriance,  was  withered  in  a  single  night. 
The  indecision  and  imbecility  of  Earl  James,  who  did  not 
chance  to  possess  the  qualities  of  military  skill  and  political 
wisdom  which  had  seemed  till  his  time  almost  hereditary  in 
this  great  family,  appear  to  have  been  the  immediate  cause 
of  their  destruction.  But  there  was  moral  justice  in  the  les- 
son that  a  house  raised  to  power  by  the  inappreciable  services 
and  inflexible  loyalty  of  the  good  Lord  James  and  his  suc- 
cessors should  fall  by  the  irregular  ambition  and  treasonable 
practices  of  its  later  chiefs. 

In  a  parliament  called  at  Edinburgh  some  care  was  taken 
that  lavish  grants  of  the  domains  of  the  crown  should  not  be- 
come again  the  cause  of  bringing  the  kingdom  into  danger; 
''forasmuch,"  says  the  statute,  "as  the  poverty  of  the  crown 
is  often  the  cause  of  the  poverty  of  the  realm. "  It  was  there- 
fore declared  that  certain  castles  and  domains  should  be  in- 
alienably annexed  to  the  crown.  It  was  further  provided 
that  the  important  office  of  warden  of  the  marches,  which 
comprehended  so  much  power,  and  the  command  of  so  many 
warlike  clans,  should  not  be  hereditary;  that,  in  like  man- 
ner, regalities,  or  jurisdictions  possessing  regal  power,  should 
not  in  future  be  bestowed  upon  subjects  without  the  consent 
of  the  estates.  These  enactments  were  judiciously  calculated 
to  prevent  the  raising  up  in  any  other  family  the  same  power 
of  disturbing  the  domestic  tranquillity  which  the  Douglases 
had  so  unhappily  attained. 

Yet,  though  the  policy  of  retaining  these  forfeitures  in 
the  crown  was  distinctly  seen,  it  could  not  in  prudence  be 
invariably  acted  upon.  The  king  had  no  other  means  of 


326  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

rewarding  the  services  of  the  loyal  chiefs  who  had  stood  by 
the  crown  in  the  last  struggle  than  by  grants  out  of  the 
estates  of  the  traitors ;  and  the  lands  of  the  Douglas  family, 
large  as  they  were,  were  inadequate  to  satisfy  the  numerous 
expectants.  The  chief  of  these  was  the  Earl  of  Angus,  a 
large  and  flourishing  branch  of  the  Douglas,  sprung  from 
a  second  son  of  the  earl  of  the  principal  family.  The  pres- 
ent Angus,  as  already  mentioned,  had  been  a  loyalist  during 
his  kinsman's  usurpation,  which,  from  the  difference  of  the 
family  complexion,  led  to  a  popular  saying  that  the  Red 
Douglas  had  put  down  the  Black.  The  Earl  of  Angus  was 
rewarded  with  a  grant  of  Douglas  Castle  with  its  valley  and 
domains,  of  Tantallon  Castle,  and  other  large  portions  of  the 
ancient  estates  of  the  Douglas  family ;  an  imprudent  profu- 
sion, it  must  be  allowed,  since  it  served  to  raise  this  younger 
branch  to  a  height  not  much  less  formidable  to  the  crown 
than  that  which  the  original  Douglases  had  attained.  Gor- 
don, in  the  north,  was  not  forgotten ;  and  the  southern  chief- 
tains, profiting  largely  by  the  forfeiture  of  the  Douglases, 
easily  obtained  gifts  of  considerable  possessions,  which  no 
one  but  they  themselves  could  have  occupied  with  safety. 
In  a  word,  if  the  king  distinctly  saw  the  policy  of  enriching 
the  crown,  which  the  statutes  of  his  reign  imply,  it  is  as  cer- 
tain he  found  it  impossible  to  follow  the  maxim  rigidly  with- 
out restricting  the  necessary  bounty  to  his  adherents.  It 
was  no  time  to  lose  men's  hearts  for  lack  of  liberality;  for 
the  ashes  of  the  civil  hostility  were  still  glowing  in  the  re- 
tnoter  districts  of  Scotland,  and  a  national  war  with  England 
was  impending. 

A  chief,  termed  John,  lord  of  the  Isles,  had  succeeded  to 
Alexander,  whose  submission  to  James  I.  has  been  already 
noticed.  He  still  took  on  him  the  title  of  Earl  of  Ross,  and 
had,  as  usual,  taken  care  to  avail  himself  of  the  disturbances 
of  the  mainland  by  entering  into  a  league  with  the  Earl  of 
Douglas.  This  negotiation  had  been  concluded  by  one  of 
the  earl's  brethren,  who  had  bestowed  on  the  insular  chief 
and  his  Celtic  followers  much  good  wine,  with  silken  cloths 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  327 

and  silver,  for  which  they  received  in  exchange  mantles  or 
Highland  plaids.  In  consequence  of  councils  adopted  on  this 
occasion,  John  of  the  Isles  ravaged  In  verkip  with  a  fleet  of 
twenty-score  of  galleys,  and  five  or  six  thousand  men.  He 
made  a  great  booty,  and  slew  some  able-bodied  men,  with 
several  women  and  children.  On  this  occasion  also  he  plun- 
dered Bute,  Arran,  and  the  small  isles  called  Cumrays,  that 
lie  in  the  mouth  of  the  Clyde.  In  March,  1451,  we  find  this 
turbulent  chief  once  more  in  action.  He  took  the  important 
castles  of  Inverness,  Urquhart,  and  Buthven  in  Badenoch, 
garrisoned  the  former,  and  destroyed  the  latter  fortresses. 
This  violence  he  committed  at  the  instance  of  his  father-in- 
law,  James  Livingston,  alleging  that  the  king  had  promised 
him  a  large  lordship  with  the  daughter  of  the  said  James 
Livingston,  but  had  not  kept  his  word.  It  appears  that 
having  performed  these  feats  John  retired,  and  afterward 
submitted  himself  on  condition  of  pardon. 

A  war  with  England  was  the  next  object  of  interest  dur- 
ing the  active  reign  of  James  II.  In  1459  he  invaded  Eng- 
land with  six  thousand  men,  burned  and  plundered  the 
country  for  twenty  miles  inland,  and  destroyed  eighteen 
towers  and  fortalices.  The  Scottish  army  remained  on  En- 
glish ground  six  days,  without  battle  being  offered,  and 
returned  home  without  loss,  and  with  worship  and  honor. 
On  James's  retreat,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  Earl  Salisbury, 
with  other  English  nobles,  led  to  the  border  a  body  of  about 
four  or  five  thousand  men ;  but  having  differed  in  opinion  of 
the  plan  of  the  campaign,  they  quarrelled  among  themselves, 
and  retired  with  disgrace.  The  cause  of  these  internal  dis- 
cords in  the  English  camp  probably  arose  out  of  the  dissen- 
sions concerning  the  red  and  white  roses,  which  were  now 
engrossing  the  nation.  The  truce  with  England  was  pro- 
longed for  nine  years.  James,  however,  seems  to  have 
deemed  the  period  favorable  for  recovering  such  Scottish 
possessions  as  were  still  held  by  the  English ;  accordingly, 
we  find  him  breaking  through  the  truce. 

It  was  with  this  view  that  the  king  collected  a  numerous 


328  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

army,  and  laid  siege  to  Roxburgh,  in  1460,  which  had  now 
been  in  possession  of  the  English  since  the  captivity  of  David 
II.,  and,  as  a  military  post,  was  of  the  greatest  importance, 
being  very  strongly  situated  between  the  Tweed  and  Teviot, 
and  not  far  from  their  confluence,  in  the  most  fertile  part  of 
the  Scottish  frontier.  John,  the  lord  of  the  Isles,  appeared 
in  the  royal  camp,  to  atone  for  former  errors  and  treason- 
able actions  by  zeal  on  the  present  occasion.  He  led  a  select 
body  of  Highlanders  and  Islesmen  armed  with  shirts  of  mail, 
two-handed  swords,  bows,  and  battle-axes,  with  which  he 
offered  to  take  the  vanguard  of  the  army  should  it  be  neces- 
sary to  enter  England,  and  to  march  a  mile  before  the  main 
body,  so  as  to  encounter  the  first  brunt  of  the  onset.  Inva- 
sion, however,  made  no  part  of  James's  purpose  on  this  oc- 
casion. He  was  desirous  to  recover  possession  of  Roxburgh, 
and  not  being  apprehensive  of  relief  from  England,  resolved 
to  proceed  in  the  siege  according  to  formal  rule.  He  be- 
leaguered the  castle  on  every  side,  and  battered  it  from  the 
north  of  the  Tweed,  his  cannon  being  placed  in  the  Duke  of 
Roxburgh's  park  of  Fleurs.  James  was  proud  of  his  train 
of  cannon,  and  of  the  skill  of  a  French  engineer,  who  could 
level  them  so  truly  as  to  hit  within  a  fathom  of  the  place 
he  aimed  at,  which,  in  those  days,  was  held  extraordinary 
practice.  The  siege  had  not  continued  many  days  when  the 
arrival  of  the  Earl  of  Huntley,  to  whose  valor  and  fidelity 
the  king  had  been  so  much  indebted,  with  a  gallant  body  of 
forces  from  the  north,  increased  the  king's  hopes  of  succeed- 
ing in  his  enterprise.  He  received  his  noble  and  faithful  ad- 
herent with  the  greatest  marks  of  respect  and  regard,  and 
conducted  him  to  see  his  batteries. 

Unhappily,  standing  in  the  vicinity  of  a  gun  which  was 
about  to  be  discharged,  the  rude  mass,  composed  of  ribs  of 
iron,  bound  together  by  hoops  of  the  same  metal,  burst 
asunder,  and  a  fragment  striking  the  king  on  the  thigh, 
broke  it  asunder,  and  killed  him  on  the  spot.  The  Earl  of 
Angus  was  severely  wounded  on  the  same  occasion. 

Thus  fell  James  II.  of  Scotland,  in  the  twenty-ninth  year 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  329 

of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-fourth  of  his  reign.  His  person 
was  strong  and  well  put  together,  and  he  was  reckoned  ex- 
cellent at  all  exercises.  His  face  would  have  been  hand- 
some, had  it  not  been  partly  disfigured  by  a  red  spot,  which 
procured  him  from  his  subjects  the  name  of  James  with  the 
Fiery  Face.  Of  the  natural  violence  of  his  temper  he  had 
given  an  unfortunate  proof,  by  suffering  himself  to  be  sur- 
prised into  a  violation  of  faith  toward  Douglas.  His  sub- 
jects seem,  however,  to  have  considered  this  as  the  act  of 
momentary  passion;  and  James's  clemency  to  Crawford, 
who,  in  the  words  of  the  chronicler,  had  been  "right  dan- 
gerous to  the  king,"  after  that  earl  was  entirely  in  his 
power,  as  well  as  the  small  number  of  persons  who  suffered 
for  rebellions  which  shook  the  very  throne,  made  his  temper 
appear  merciful,  compared  to  that  of  his  father,  James  I. 
He  possessed  the  gift  of  being  able  to  choose  wise  counsel- 
lors, and  had  the  sense  to  follow  their  advice  when  chosen. 
In  the  display  which  James  II.  was  called  on  to  make  of 
his  military  talents,  he  showed  both  courage  and  conduct. 
His  death  was  an  inexpressible  loss  to  his  country,  which 
was  again  plunged  into  the  miseries  of  a  long  minority. 

James  II.  left  three  sons :  James,  his  successor ;  Alexan- 
der, duke  of  Albany;  and  John,  who  was  created  earl  of 
Mar;  with  two  daughters,  Mary  and  Margaret,  of  whom 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  say  more  hereafter. 


330  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER    XX 

Roxburgh  is  taken — Administration  during  James's  Minority — He 
assumes  the  Royal  Authority,  by  Advice  of  the  Boyds — The 
younger  Boyd  is  created  Earl  of  Arran,  and  married  to  the 
King's  Sister — He  negotiates  a  Marriage  between  the  King  and 
a  Princess  of  Denmark,  and  obtains  the  Orkney  and  Zetland 
Islands  in  security  of  the  Dowry:  is  disgraced,  and  dies  in 
obscurity — Treaty  of  Marriage  between  the  Prince  of  Scotland 
and  a  Daughter  of  England,  and  its  Conditions:  broken  off  by 
Edward  IV. — Submission  of  the  Lord  of  the  Isles — Character  of 
James  III. — His  favorite  Pursuits — His  Disposition  to  Favor- 
itism— Character  of  Albany  and  Mar,  the  King's  Brothers — 
The  King  imprisons  them  on  suspicion — Albany  escapes — Mar 
is  murdered — War  with  England — Conspiracy  of  Lauder — The 
King's  Favorite  seized  and  executed — Intrigues  of  Albany — He 
is  received  into  his  Brother's  Favor;  but  is  afterward  again 
banished — Peace  with  England — The  King  gives  way  to  his 
Taste  for  Music  and  Building — Conspiracy  of  the  Southern 
Nobles — Battle  of  Sauchie  Burn,  and  the  King's  Murder 

THE  sudden  death  of  James  II.  struck  such  a  damp 
into  the  Scottish  nobles  that  they  were  about  to 
abandon  the  siege  of  Roxburgh,  and  break  up  their 
camp,  when  the  courage  of  Mary  of  Guelders,  the  widowed 
queen,  reanimated  their  spirits.  She  arrived  in  the  camp 
almost  immediately  after  the  king's  death,  and  throwing 
herself  and  her  son,  their  infant  sovereign,  upon  the  faith 
of  the  Scottish  lords,  conjured  them  never  to  remove  the 
siege  from  this  ill-fated  castle  till  they  had  laid  it  ha  ruins. 
The  nobles  caught  fire  at  her  exhortations.  They  crowned 
their  king  at  the  neighboring  abbey  of  Kelso,  with  such 
ceremonies  of  homage  and  royalty  as  the  time  admitted, 
and,  pressing  the  siege  with  double  vigor,  compelled  the 
English  garrison  to  surrender  on  terms.  The  castle  of  Rox- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  331 

burgh  they  levelled  to  the  ground,  agreeably  to  the  policy 
recommended  by  Robert  Bruce.  The  vestiges  of  its  walls 
still  show  the  extent  and  consequence  of  which  it  had  for- 
merly boasted. 

The  queen-regent  naturally  retained  a  considerable  influ- 
ence in  the  government,  and  seems  to  have  acted  for  some 
time  as  regent,  with  the  assistance  of  a  council  of  state. 
Her  conduct,  however,  which  was  not  personally  respecta- 
ble, considerably  diminished  her  influence  before  her  death, 
which  took  place  when  she  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  life. 
Kennedy,  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  the  wise  and  loyal 
friend  of  his  father,  became  the  personal  guardian  of  the 
infant  king.  The  rapid  changes  of  fortune  occurring  in 
the  wars  of  York  and  Lancaster  saved  Scotland  during  this 
minority  from  the  dangers  arising  from  her  ambitious  neigh- 
bors. The  meek  usurper,  Henry  VI.,  was  received  with 
hospitality  in  Scotland  during  his  exile  after  the  battle  of 
Towton,  1461 ;  and  Berwick,  an  important  acquisition,  was 
delivered  up  by  his  authority  to  the  Scots,  and  duly  garri- 
soned. The  assistance  rendered  by  Scotland  to  the  dethroned 
king  occasioned  a  brief  war  with  England,  urged  with  little 
zeal  on  either  side,  and  which  soon  terminated  by  a  truce, 
which  in  1463  was  extended  to  the  unusually  long  period  of 
fifty-four  years. 

The  death  of  the  queen-mother  and  of  Archbishop  Ken- 
nedy now  opened  to  the  king,  who  was  in  his  fourteenth 
year,  the  dangerous  privilege  of  acting  for  himself.  Sub- 
ject all  his  life  to  the  weakness  of  adopting  favorites,  to 
whom  he  intrusted  the  charge  of  public  affairs,  when  the 
nation  had  a  right  to  expect  they  should  be  administered  by 
himself  personally,  James  surrendered  himself  to  his  imme- 
diate partialities.  Robert,  Lord  Boyd,  and  his  two  sons, 
were  at  this  time  high  in  James's  confidence;  and  the  royal 
favor  filled  them  with  such  presumption  that  they  removed 
the  person  of  the  king  from  those  to  whom  his  custody  had 
been  committed  by  the  estates  of  the  kingdom,  and  brought 
him  to  Edinburgh,  under  pretence  of  setting  him  at  liberty. 


332  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

A  new  parliament  was  convoked,  in  which  Lord  Boyd  was 
formally  pardoned  for  his  late  audacious  enterprise ;  and,  to 
add  to  the  authority  of  the  family,  the  Princess  Margaret, 
eldest  daughter  of  James  II.,  and  sister  to  the  king,  was 
given  in  marriage  to  Sir  Thomas  Boyd,  who  was  at  the 
same  time  created  Earl  of  Arran. 

An  important  acquisition  to  the  Scottish  dominions  was 
effected  in  this  reign  (1467),  feeble  as  it  was.  The  Orkney 
Islands  had  as  yet  remained  part  of  the  Norwegian  domin- 
ions, having  been  seized  by  that  people  in  the  ninth  century. 
A  large  sum  of  money  was  due  from  Scotland  to  Denmark, 
being  the  arrears  of  the  annual,  as  it  was  called,  of  Norway. 
This  was  the  annuity  of  one  hundred  marks,  due  to  Norway 
as  the  consideration  for  the  cession  of  the  Hebrides,  or  West- 
ern Isles,  settled  by  the  treaty  of  1264,  entered  into  after 
Haco's  defeat  at  the  battle  of  Largs.  James  I.  had  obtained 
some  settlement  respecting  this  annuity;  but  it  had  been 
again  permitted  to  fall  into  arrear,  and  the  amount  of  the 
debt  had  become  uncertain. 

Under  the  influence  of  Charles  VII.  of  France,  there  had 
been  negotiations  between  Denmark  and  Scotland  for  the 
final  arrangement  of  these  claims,  which  were  renewed  hi 
1468.  Boyd,  the  young  Earl  of  Arran,  seems  to  have  man- 
aged this  treaty  with  considerable  dexterity.  It  was  finally 
agreed  that  James  III,  should  wed  a  daughter  of  the  Prin- 
cess of  Denmark,  whom  her  father  proposed  to  endow  with 
a  portion  of  sixty  thousand  florins,  of  which  ten  thousand 
only  were  to  be  paid  in  ready  money,  and  for  security  of  the 
remainder  the  islands  of  Orkney  were  to  be  assigned  in  pledge. 
In  addition  to  this,  Denmark  renounced  all  claim  to  the  ar- 
rears of  the  annuity  payable  on  account  of  the  cession  of  the 
Hebrides,  which  seem  to  have  been  given  up  as  an  old,  pre- 
scribed, and  somewhat  desperate  claim.  When  the  term  for 
payment  of  the  ten  thousand  florins  arrived,  Christian  of 
Denmark  found  himself  so  short  of  money  that  he  could  only 
produce  the  fifth  part  of  the  sum,  and  for  the  rest  an  assign- 
ment of  security  over  the  archipelago  of  Zetland  was  offered 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  333 

and  gladly  Accepted..  Thus  Scotland  acquired  a  right  of 
mortgage  to  the  whole  of  these  islands,  constituting  the  an- 
cient Thule,  so  important  to  her  in  every  point  of  view,  and 
which,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  the  crown  of  Denmark  was 
never  able  to  redeem. 

"While  the  Earl  of  Arran  was  negotiating  this  national 
treaty,  his  influence  with  the  king  was  undermined  by  those 
courtiers  who  envied  his  sudden  elevation,  and  the  prefer- 
ence which  James  had  displayed  toward  him  and  his  fam- 
ily. When  the  earl  arrived  in  the  Firth  of  Forth  with  the 
fleet  which  escorted  the  Danish  princess  to  the  shores  where 
she  was  to  reign,  Arran's  wife,  the  Princess  Margaret,  came 
on  board  to  acquaint  him  that  if  he  landed  his  life  would  be 
in  danger.  They  fled  together,  therefore ;  and  the  new  Earl 
of  Arran  returned  to  Denmark,  to  seek  refuge  from  the  in- 
dignation of  his  fickle  prince,  for  whom  he  had  so  lately 
achieved,  in  the  same  kingdom,  such  important  negotia- 
tions. In  the  meantime  the  total  ruin  of  his  friends  at  home 
took  place,  almost  without  opposition,  and  the  power  of  the 
House  of  Boyd  was  destroyed  as  speedily  as  it  arose.  It  is 
vain  to  inquire  why  a  weak  prince  should  be  as  changeable 
as  he  was  violent  in  his  partialities.  Sentence  of  high  trea- 
son was  passed  upon  the  Boyds  for  their  aggression  in  1466, 
though  fully  pardoned  by  a  subsequent  parliament.  Sir 
Alexander  Boyd  suffered  death;  the  Lord  Boyd  escaped  to 
England,  where  he  died  in  poverty.  The  Earl  of  Arran, 
who  appears  by  his  personal  qualities  to  have  merited  the 
confidence  which  the  king  had  so  suddenly  withdrawn,  seems 
to  have  received  but  a  cold  welcome  in  Denmark.  The  Prin- 
cess Margaret  was  separated  from  him  and  sent  back  to  Scot- 
land, on  the  demand,  it  may  be  presumed,  of  her  royal 
brother;  and  her  unfortunate  husband,  after  wandering  as 
an  exile  from  one  country  to  another,  died,  it  is  said,  in 
Flanders.  His  death,  or  a  divorce  between  him  and  the 
Princess  Margaret,  obtained  by  the  influence  of  James,  gave 
an  opportunity  for  forming  a  second  marriage  between  the 
king's  sister  and  the  Lord  Hamilton,  the  heir  of  a  family 


334  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

which  had  been  rising  in  influence  and  importance)  ever  since 
the  first  lord  of  the  name  so  opportunely  embraced  the  cause 
of  the  king,  in  the  grand  struggle  of  James  II.  with  the 
House  of  Douglas.  The  princess  had  a  family  by  both  mar- 
riages; but  Boyd's  son  and  daughter  died  without  heirs; 
while  her  son  by  Hamilton  survived,  so  that  in  Queen  Mary's 
time  their  descendant  stood  first  in  succession  to  the  crown. 

In  the  parliament  of  1469,  held  after  the  fall  of  the  Boyds, 
we  see  the  good  sense  of  the  people  of  Scotland  displayed  in 
an  act  declaring  that  every  homicide  who  flees  to  sanctuary 
shall  be  taken  forth  and  put  to  the  judgment  of  an  assize; 
"for  to  such  manslayers  of  forethought  felony,"  said  the 
statute, '  'the  law  will  not  grant  the  immunity  of  the  Church. " 

The  sceptre  of  France  was  now  swayed  by  Louis  XL,  one 
of  the  most  wise  of  princes  and  most  worthless  of  men,  of 
whom  it  can  be  hardly  said,  whether  he  were  more  supersti- 
tious or  sagacious,  more  prudent  and  liberal,  or  more  perfidi- 
ous and  cruel.  He  was  aware  of  the  importance  of  the  Scot- 
tish league  to  the  safety  of  France,  as  affording  a  ready  means 
of  annoyance  against  England.  Edward  IV.  of  England 
became,  on  the  other  hand,  sensible  that  it  was  better  to  ac- 
quire, if  possible,  the  goodwill  of  his  northern  neighbors  by 
friendly  means,  and  thus  secure  his  frontier  at  home,  while 
he  undertook  the  invasion  of  France,  which  he  meditated, 
than,  with  the  haughty  policy  of  his  predecessors,  to  renew 
the  attempt  of  subjugating  Scotland  by  force.  By  a  treaty 
entered  into  in  1474,  it  was  agreed  that,  in  order  to  promote 
the  mutual  happiness,  honor,  and  interest  of  this  noble  isl- 
and, called  Great  Britain,  a  contract  of  marriage  should  be 
executed  between  the  Prince  of  Scotland  and  Cecilia,  daugh- 
ter of  the  king  of  England,  the  former  being  only  two,  the 
latter  four,  years  old.  A  portion  of  twenty  thousand  marks 
sterling  was  to  be  paid  by  annual  instalments  of  two  thou- 
sand marks,  to  commence  with  the  date  of  the  contract.  If 
the  prince  or  princess  named  in  the  contract  should  die,  it 
was  agreed  that  another  of  the  royal  family  to  which  the 
deceased  party  might  belong  should  fill  up  his  or  her  place 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  335 

in  the  contract.  If  such  marriage  did  not  take  place,  Scot- 
land became  bound  to  repay  the  sum  of  money  advanced  in 
manner  aforesaid,  under  the  deduction  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  marks,  which  Edward  agreed  to  abandon  as  a  con- 
sideration paid  for  the  friendship  of  Scotland  at  a  critical 
period.  By  the  same  treaty,  the  long  truce  of  fifty-five 
years  was  affirmed  and  secured. 

It  appears  from  this  remarkable  treaty  that  the  policy  of 
Louis  XI.,  who  maintained  his  power  in  Europe  more  by  in- 
fluence and  subsidies  than  by  the  direct  exercise  of  positive 
violence  and  force,  was  becoming  general  through  Europe, 
and  had  been  adopted  by  England. 

The  payment  of  the  Princess  Cecilia's  portion  so  long  be- 
fore the  possibility  of  an  effectual  marriage  taking  place, 
afforded  an  honorable  pretext  for  England  to  give  and  Scot- 
land to  receive  by  instalments  a  certain  large  sum  of  money 
or  subsidy,  by  which  annual  gratification  she  was  to  be  in- 
duced to  maintain  amity  with  her  wealthier  neighbor.  Ed- 
ward IV.  was,  however,  too  impetuous  and  too  necessitous 
to  continue  long  this  expensive,  though  secure  course  of 
policy.  Three  years'  instalments  of  the  proposed  portion 
were  paid  with  regularity;  but  Edward  in  the  course  of 
1478  conceived  he  stood  so  well  with  France  as  might  enable 
him  to  dispense  with  the  expensive  friendship  of  Scotland. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  the  treaty  of  marriage  with 
England  was  fixed  upon,  the  counsellors  of  James  III.  re- 
solved to  proceed  to  check  the  power  of  John,  lord  of  the 
Isles,  and  titular  earl  of  Ross,  whose  insubordination  again 
had  merited  chastisement.  After  a  show  of  resistance  the 
island  lord  submitted  himself,  and  by  an  act  of  parliament 
was  finally  deprived  of  the  earldom  of  Ross,  which  was  an- 
nexed inalienably  to  the  crown,  with  liberty  to  the  kings  to 
convey  it  as  an  appanage  to  their  younger  sons,  but  to  no 
meaner  subject.  The  humbled  lord  of  the  Isles  was  also 
deprived  of  the  regions  of  Knapdale  and  Cantire,  which  he 
had  possessed  on  the  continent,  and  dismissed  under  promise 
to  be  a  submissive  subject  in  future. 


336  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

James  III.  had  now,  1478,  attained  his  twenty -first  year, 
under  circumstances  of  success  which  had  attended  no  Scot- 
tish monarch  since  Robert  Br  uce.  His  kingdom  was  strength- 
ened by  the  expulsion  of  the  English  from  Roxburgh  Castle 
and  the  town  of  Berwick,  as  well  as  by  the  acquisition  of  the 
Orkney  and  Zetland  Islands,  the  natural  dependencies  of  Scot- 
land. The  country  was  relieved  of  the  charge  of  the  Norway 
annual,  a  burden  it  was  incapable  of  discharging;  and  the 
increasing  consequence  of  the  nation  was  manifested  by  the 
contending  offers  of  France  and  England  for  her  favor  and 
friendship.  All  these  advantages  indicate  that  James  had, 
at  this  period  of  his  reign,  able  ministers,  by  whom  his  coun- 
cils were  directed.  The  chief  of  these  probably  was  the 
chancellor,  Andrew  Stewart,  Lord  Evandale,  whose  impor- 
tance was  now  so  great  that,  in  virtue  of  his  office,  he  took 
rank  next  to  the  princes  of  the  blood  royal.  He  was  a  natu- 
ral son  of  Sir  James  Stewart,  son  of  Murdach,  duke  of 
Albany. 

In  the  meantime  the  unfortunate  James  began  to  disclose 
evil  qualities  and  habits  which  his  youth  had  hitherto  con- 
cealed from  observation.  He  had  a  dislike  to  the  active 
sports  of  hunting  and  the  games  of  chivalry,  mounted  on 
horseback  rarely,  and  rode  ill.  A  consciousness  of  these 
deficiencies,  in  what  were  the  most  approved  accomplish- 
ments of  the  age,  and  a  certain  shyness  which  attends  a 
timorous  temper,  rendered  the  king  alike  unfit  and  unwill- 
ing to  mingle  hi  the  pleasures  of  his  nobility,  or  to  show  him- 
self to  his  subjects  in  the  romantic  pageants  which  were  the 
delight  of  the  age.  James's  amusements  were  of  a  char- 
acter hi  which  neither  his  peers  nor  people  could  share,  and 
though  to  a  certain  extent  they  were  innocent  and  even  hon- 
orable, they  were  yet  such  as,  pushed  to  excess,  must  have 
necessarily  interfered  with  the  regular  discharge  of  his  royal 
duties.  He  was  attached  to  what  are  now  called  the  fine 
arts  of  architecture  and  music ;  and  in  studying  these  used 
the  instructions  of  Rogers,  an  English  musician,  Cochrane, 
a  mason  or  architect,  and  Torphichen,  a  dancing-master. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  837 

Another  of  his  domestic  minions  was  Hommil,  a  tailor,  not 
the  least  important  in  the  conclave,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  variety  and  extent  of  the  royal  wardrobe,  of  which  a 
voluminous  catalogue  is  preserved. 

Spending  his  time  with  such  persons,  who,  whatever  their 
merit  might  be  in  their  own  several  professions,  could  not  be 
fitting  company  for  a  prince,  James  necessarily  lost  the  taste 
for  society  of  a  different  description,  whose  rank  imposed  on 
him  a  certain  degree  of  restraint ;  and  with  the  habit  of  en- 
gaging in  good  society  easily,  he  left  unpracticed  the  man- 
ners which  ought  to  distinguish  the  prince  when  mixing 
with  the  nobility  of  his  realm.  Thus  thrown  back  upon 
his  low-born  associates,  it  was  scarcely  possible  that  James 
should  not  have  used  the  counsels  of  men  totally  ignorant  in 
political  affairs,  upon  matters  far  above  their  sphere ;  or  that 
they,  with  the  presumption  common  to  upstarts,  should  not 
readily  interpose  their  advice  on  such  subjects.  The  nation, 
therefore,  with  disgust  and  displeasure,  saw  the  king  disuse 
the  society  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  and  abstain  from  their 
counsel,  to  lavish  favors  upon,  and  be  guided  by  the  advice 
of,  a  few  whom  the  age  termed  base  mechanics. 

In  this  situation,  the  public  eye  was  fixed  upon  James's 
younger  brothers,  Alexander,  duke  of  Albany,  and  John, 
earl  of  Mar.  These  princes  were  remarkable  for  the  royal 
qualities  which  the  king  did  not  possess.  Being  naturally 
drawn  into  comparison  with  their  brother,  and  extolled 
above  him  by  the  public  voice,  James  seems  to  have  be- 
come jealous  of  them,  even  on  account  of  then*  possessing 
the  virtues  or  endowments  which  he  himself  was  conscious 
of  wanting.  It  is  too  consonant  with  the  practice  of  courts 
to  suppose  that  Mar  and  Albany  were  not  quiescent  under 
this  dishonorable  suspicion  and  jealousy.  It  is  probable 
that  they  intrigued  with  the  other  discontented  nobles ;  with 
what  purpose,  or  to  what  extent,  cannot  now  be  ascertained. 
Mar  was  accused  of  having  inquired  of  pretended  witches 
concerning  the  term  of  the  king's  life;  a  suspicious  subject 
of  inquiry,  considering  it  was  made  by  so  near  a  relation; 
15  <%>  VOL.  I. 


338  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

and  the  progress  of  Albany's  life  shows  him  capable  of 
unscrupulous  ambition. 

The  king,  on  his  part,  resorted  to  diviners  and  sooth- 
sayers to  know  his  own  future  fate;  and  the  answer  (prob- 
ably dictated  by  the  favorite  Cochrane)  was,  that  he  should 
fall  by  the  means  of  his  nearest  of  kin.  The  unhappy  mon- 
arch, with  a  self-contradiction,  one  of  the  many  implied  in 
superstition,  imagined  that  his  brothers  were  the  relations 
indicated  by  the  oracle ;  and  also  imagined  that  his  knowl- 
edge of  their  intentions  might  enable  him  to  alter  the  sup- 
posed doom  of  fate. 

In  1478,  Albany  and  Mar  were  suddenly  arrested,  as  the 
king's  suspicions  grew  darker  and  more  dangerous;  and 
while  the  duke  was  confined  in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh, 
Mar  was  committed  to  that  of  Craigmillar.  Conscious, 
probably,  that  the  king  possessed  matter  which  might  afford 
a  pretext  to  take  his  life,  Albany  resolved  on  his  escape. 
He-  communicated  his  scheme  to  a  faithful  attendant,  by 
whose  assistance  he  intoxicated,  or,  as  some  accounts  say, 
murdered  the  captain  of  the  guard,  and  then  attempted  to 
descend  from  the  battlements  of  the  castle  by  a  rope*  His 
attendant  made  the  essay  first;  but  the  rope  being  too  short, 
he  fell,  and  broke  his  thigh-bone.  The  duke,  warned  by 
this  accident,  lengthened  the  rope  with  the  sheets  from  his 
bed,  and  made  the  perilous  descent  hi  safety.  He  trans- 
ported his  faithful  attendant  on  his  back  to  a  place  of  se- 
curity, then  was  received  on  board  a  vessel  which  lay  in 
the  roads  of  Leith,  and  set  sail  for  France,  where  he  met 
a  hospitable  reception,  and  was  maintained  by  the  bounty 
of  Louis  XI. 

In  1479,  enraged  at  the  escape  of  the  elder  of  his  cap- 
tives, it  would  seem  that  James  was  determined  to  make 
secure  of  Mar,  who  remained.  There  occur  no  records  to 
show  that  the  unfortunate  prince  was  subjected  to  any  pub- 
lic trial;  nor  can  it  be  known,  save  by  conjecture,  how  far 
James  III.  was  accessory  to  the  perpetration  of  his  murder, 
which  was  said  to  be  executed  by  bleeding  the  prisoner  to 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  339 

death  in  a  bath.  Several  persons  were  at  the  same  time 
condemned  and  executed  for  acts  of  witchcraft,  charged  as 
having  been  practiced,  at  Mar's  instance,  against  the  life  of 
the  king. 

About  this  tune  war  broke  out  between  the  two  sister 
countries  of  Britain,  after  an  interval  of  peace  of  unusual 
duration.  The  blame  may  have  originally  laid  with  Eng- 
land, who  had  violated  the  articles  of  the  last  treaty,  hi  dis- 
continuing the  stipulated  payment  of  the  Princess  Cecilia's 
portion ;  but  the  incursions  of  the  Scots  gave  the  first  signal 
for  actual  hostilities.  "Wise  regulations  were  laid  down  by 
tlie  Scottish  parliament  for  garrisoning,  with  hired  soldiers, 
Berwick,  the  Hermitage  Castle,  and  other  fortresses  on  the 
border,  the  expense  to  be  defrayed  from  the  public  revenue. 
If  Edward  IV. ,  who  is  discourteously  termed  the  reifar  or 
robber,  should  invade  Scotland,  it  was  appointed  that  the 
king  should  take  the  field,  and  that  the  whole  nobles  and 
commons  should  live  or  die  with  him. 

Edward  IV.  on  his  part,  desirous  to  obtain  an  advantage 
similar  to  that  which  had  been  gained  by  Edward  I.  and 
Edward  III.,  by  means  of  the  Baliols'  claim  to  the  Scottish 
throne,  made  proposals  to  the  banished  Duke  of  Albany  that 
he  should  set  himself  up  as  a  competitor  for  his  brother's 
throDe.  Whatever  had  been  the  specious  virtue  of  Albany, 
it  was  of  a  kind  easily  seduced  by  temptation;  and,  like 
Baliol  in  similar  circumstances,  he  hastened  from  France 
over  to  England,  agreed  to  become  king  of  Scotland  under 
the  patronage  of  Edward,  consented  to  resign  the  long-dis- 
puted question  of  the  independence  of  his  country,  promised 
the  abandonment  of  Berwick  and  other  places  on  the  border, 
and  undertook  to  restore  to  his  estate  the  banished  Earl  of 
Douglas,  who  was  to  be  a  party  in  the  projected  invasion. 
Under  this  agreement,  which  was,  however,  kept  strictly 
secret,  the  celebrated  Duke  of  Gloucester,  afterward  King 
Richard  III.,  was  detached  to  the  Scottish  wars  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  army,  and  Albany  accompanied  him. 

The  Scottish  king  had  in  the  meantime  assembled  his 


340  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

army,  and  set  forward  against  the  enemy.  But  there  ex- 
isted a  spirit  of  disaffection  among  his  nobility,  which  led  to 
an  unexpected  explosion.  Cochrane,  the  mason,  the  most 
able,  or  at  least  the  most  bold  of  the  king's  plebeian  fa- 
vorites, had  made  so  much  money  by  accepting  of  bribes 
and  selling  his  interest  in  the  king's  favor,  that  he  was 
able  to  purchase  from  'his  master  James,  who  added  ava- 
rice to  the  other  vices  of  a  grovelling  and  degraded  spirit, 
the  earldom  of  Mar.  It  is  an  additional  shade  of  meanness 
in  James's  character,  that,  when  satisfied  with  the  amount 
of  the  consideration  to  be  paid,  he  never  hesitated  at  con- 
ferring upon  a  low-born  upstart  the  lordship  which  had  be- 
longed to  his  late  murdered  brother.  Cochrane  proceeded 
in  his  career.  The  insatiable  extortioner  amassed  money 
by  indirect  means  of  every  kind;  and  one  mode  which  par- 
ticularly affected  the  poor  was  the  debasement  of  the  coin 
of  the  realm,  by  mixing  the  silver  with  so  much  copper  as 
entirely  to  destroy  its  value.  This  adulterated  coin  was 
called  the  Cochrane-plack,  and  was  so  favorite  a  specula- 
tion of  his,  that,  having  been  told  it  would  be  one  day 
called  in,  he  answered  scornfully,  "Yes,  on  the  day  I  am 
hanged".;  an  unwitting  prophecy,  which  was  punctually 
accomplished. 

The  rank  and  state  affected  by  the  new  Earl  of  Mar  only 
more  deeply  incensed  the  nobility,  who  considered  their  order 
as  disgraced  by  the  introduction  of  such  a  person.  A  baud 
of  three  hundred  men  constantly  attended  the  favorite  armed 
with  battle-axes,  and  displaying  his  livery  of  white  with 
black  fillets.  He  himself  used  to  appear  in  a  riding- suit  of 
black  velvet,  his  horn  mounted  with  gold,  and  hung  around 
his  neck  by  a  chain  of  the  same  metal.  In  this  manner  he 
joined  the  Scottish  host.  The  army  had  advanced  from  the 
capital  as  far  as  Lander,  when  the  nobility,  beginning  to 
feel  sensible  of  their  power  in  a  camp  consisting  chiefly  of 
their  own  soldiers  and  feudal  followers,  resolved  that  they 
would  meet  together,  and  consult  what  measures  were  to 
be  taken  for  the  reform  of  the  abuses  of  the  commonwealth, 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  341 

having  already  in  vain  represented  their  grievances  to  the 
king. 

The  armed  conclave  was  held  in  Lauder  Church,  where, 
in  the  course  of  their  deliberations,  Lord  Gray  reminded 
them  of  the  fable  in  which  the  mice  are  said  to  have  laid  a 
project  for  preventing  the  future  ravages  of  the  cat  by  tying 
a  bell  around  her  neck,  which  might  make  them  aware  of 
her  approach.  "An  excellent  proposal,"  said  the  orator, 
"but  which  fell  unexpectedly  to  the  ground,  because  none  of 
the  mice  had  courage  enough  to  fasten  the  bell  on  the  cat's 
neck."  "I  will  bell  the  cat!"  exclaimed  Douglas,  earl  of 
Angus;  from  which  he  was  ever  afterward  called  by  the 
homely  appellation  of  Archibald  Bell-the-Cat.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  king's  favorite  should  be  seized  and  put  to  death, 
and  the  king  himself  should  be  placed  under  some  gentle 
restraint,  until  he  should  give  satisfactory  assurance  of  a 
change  of  measures. 

Just  as  this  was  determined  on,  Cochrane  came  to  the 
council,  and  demanded  admission.  He  was  suffered  to  enter 
with  some  of  his  attendants,  but  was  received  with  the  scorn 
and  indignation  which  were  the  natural  preface  of  actual 
violence.  Douglas  of  Lochleven,  who  kept  the  door,  snatched 
from  him  the  hunting-horn  that  hung  round  his  neck.  ' '  Thou 
hast  hunted  mischief,"  he  said,  "over  long."  Angus  seized 
the  chain  which  held  the  bugle,  saying,  "A  halter  would 
suit  him  better."  "Is  it  jest  or  earnest,  my  lords?"  said 
the  astonished  favorite,  surprised  at  his  reception.  "It  is 
sorrowful  earnest,"  they  answered,  "and  that  thou  shalt 
presently  feel."  One  or  two,  deemed  the  most  grave  of  the 
nobles,  undertook  to  acquaint  the  king  with  their  purpose; 
while  the  others,  seizing  the  minions  who  were  the  objects 
of  their  violence,  caused  them  to  be  hanged  over  the  bridge 
of  Lauder.  Cochrane,  when  brought  to  the  place  of  execu- 
tion, showed  how  much  a  paltry  love  of  show  made  part  of 
his  character.  He  made  it  his  suit  to  be  hanged  in  a  silken 
cord,  and  offered  to  supply  it  from  his  own  pavilion.  This 
idle  request  only  taught  his  stern  auditors  how  to  ^  '  his 


342  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

feelings  more  deeply,  "Thou  shalt  die,"  they  said,  "like  a 
mean  slave  as  thou  art";  and  applied  to  the  purpose  of  his 
execution  a  halter  of  horsehair,  as  the  most  degrading  means 
of  death  which  they  could  invent.  This  execution  was  done 
with  excessive  applause  on  the  part  of  the  army.  All  the 
favorites  of  the  weak  prince  perished,  except  a  youth  called 
Ramsay  of  Balmain,  who  clung  close  to  the  king's  person; 
James  begged  his  life  with  so  much  earnestness  that  the 
peers  relented,  and  granted  their  sovereign's  boon. 

The  consequences  of  this  enterprise  are  very  puzzling  to 
the  historian.  The  Scottish  nobility  seem  to  have  retired 
with  the  determination  not  to  oppose  the  English  host  in 
arms,  expecting,  probably,  that  they  would  be  able  to  settle 
some  accommodation  by  means  of  the  Duke  of  Albany. 
They  were  as  yet  ignorant  of  the  disgraceful  treaty  which 
he  had  made  with  England,  and  hoped  to  have  the  advan- 
tage of  his  talents  as  a  regent  to  direct  the  weak  councils 
of  his  brother  James.  In  the  meantime  they  subjected  the 
king  to  a  mitigated  imprisonment  in  Edinburgh  Castle. 

It  would  seem  that  Albany,  perceiving  the  Scottish  nobles 
totally  indisposed  to  admit  his  claim  to  the  kingdom,  was 
willing  enough  to  accept  the  proposal  of  becoming  lieutenant- 
general.  That  he  might  do  so  with  the  better  grace,  Albany 
and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  interceded  with  the  Scottish  lords 
for  the  liberation  of  the  king.  The  nobles  addressed  the  Duke 
of  Albany  with  much  respect,  and  agreed  to  grant  whatever 
he  desired,  acknowledging  him  to  be,  after  James's  children, 
the  nearest  of  blood  to  the  royal  family.  "But  for  that  per- 
son who  accompanies  you,"  they  continued,  in  allusion  to 
the  English  prince,  "we  know  nothing  of  him  whatever,  or 
by  what  right  he  presumes  to  talk  to  us  upon  our  national 
affairs,  and  will  pay  no  deference  to  his  wishes,  seeing  he  is 
entitled  to  none." 

The  English,  however,  gained  one  important  advantage 
upon  this  occasion.  The  town  of  Berwick,  which  had  been 
delivered  up  to  the  Scots  by  Henry  VI.,  and  possessed  by 
thPr>~  -  -  nearly  twenty  years,  was  now  taken  by  the  troops 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  343 

of  Richard  of  Gloucester,  and  the  castle  being  also  yielded, 
this  strong  fortress  and  valuable  seaport  never  afterward 
returned  to  the  dominion  of  Scotland.  In  other  respects  the 
English  sought  no  national  advantage  by  the  pacification. 

James  was  in  this  manner  restored  to  his  liberty,  and, 
either  from  fickleness  of  temper  or  profound  dissimulation, 
appeared  for  a  time  to  be  so  much  attached  to  Albany,  that 
he  -could  not  be  separated  from  him  for  a  moment.  The 
concord  of  the  royal  brethren  showed  itself  by  some  dem- 
onstrations which  would  seem  strange  at  the  present  day. 
They  rode  together,  on  one  occasion,  mounted  on  the  same 
horse,  from  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  along  the  principal 
street,  down  to  the  Abbey  of  Holyrood,  to  the  great  joy  and 
delectation  of  all  good  subjects.  Every  night,  also,  the  king 
and  Albany  partook  the  same  bed. 

But  this  fraternal  concord,  which  must  have  had,  from 
the  beginning,  its  source  in  a  degree  of  affectation,  did  not 
long  continue;  and,  in  1483,  the  predominant  disposition 
of  each  prince  disconcerted  their  union.  The  ambition  of 
Albany  would  have  alarmed  the  fears  of  a  less  timorous 
or  suspicious  man  than  James.  It  appears  too  plainly  that 
the  duke  resumed  his  treasonable  practices  with  the  court 
of  England,  and  it  would  seem  that  his  intrigues  were  dis- 
covered, and  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Scottish  nobles, 
incensed  at  his  perfidy,  joined  in  expelling  him  from  the 
government.  In  1484  doom  of  forfeiture  was  pronounced 
against  Albany,  and  he  fled  to  England,  having  first,  as 
the  last  act  of  treachery  in  his  power,  delivered  up  his  castle 
of  Dunbar  to  an  English  garrison,  and  thus,  in  so  far  as  in 
him  lay,  exposed  the  frontiers  of  which  he  was  the  warden. 
The  next  year  witnessed  the  battle  of  Lochmaben,  the  event 
of  a  foray  undertaken  by  Douglas  and  Albany  into  Annan- 
dale,  in  which  Douglas  was  made  prisoner,  and  Albany 
obliged  to  fly  for  his  life.1 

Richard  III.  had  now  (1485)  begun  his  brief  and  precari-- 
ous  reign.     A  short  negotiation  speedily  arranged  a  truce 

1  See  page  824. 


344  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

with  Scotland,  which  might  have  had  some  endurance  if  the 
monarchs  who  made  it  had  remained  steady  on  their  thrones. 
But  James,  when  he  felt  himself  uncontrolled  in  his  sover- 
eignty, used  it,  as  his  inclinations  determined  him,  in  found- 
ing expensive  establishments  for  the  cultivation  of  music, 
and  in  the  erection  of  chapels  and  palaces  in  a  peculiar  spe- 
cies of  architecture,  in  which  the  Gothic  style  was  mingled 
with  an  imitation  of  the  Grecian  orders.  To  meet  the  ex- 
pense of  these  buildings  and  foundations,  and  to  gratify  his 
natural  love  of  amassing  treasure,  James  watched  and 
availed  himself  of  every  opportunity  by  which  he  could 
collect  money ;  nor  did  he  hesitate  to  appropriate  to  these 
favorite  purposes  funds  which  the  haughty  nobles  were  dis- 
posed to  consider  as  perquisites  of  their  own.  A  particular 
instance  of  this  nature  hurried  on  James's  catastrophe. 

In  order  to  maintain  the  expenses  of  a  double  choir  in  the 
royal  chapel  of  Stirling,  the  king  ventured  to  apply  to  that 
purpose  the  revenues  of  the  priory  of  Coldingham.  The  two 
powerful  families  of  Home  and  Hepburn  had  long  accounted 
this  wealthy  abbey  their  own  property,  insomuch  that  they 
expected  that  the  king  would  not  have  violated  or  interfered 
with  a.family  compact,  by  which  they  had  agreed  that  the 
prior  of  Coldingham  should  be  alternately  chosen  from  their 
respective  names.  The  king's  appropriation  of  the  revenues 
which  they  had  considered  as  destined  to  the  advantage  of 
their  friends  and  clansmen,  disposed  these  haughty  chiefs 
to  seek  revenge  as  men  who  were  suffering  oppression. 
The  spirit  of  discontent  spread  fast  among  the  southern 
barons,  much  influenced  by  the  Earl  of  Angus,  a  nobleman 
both  hated  and  feared  by  the  king,  who  could  not  be  sup- 
posed to  have  forgotten  the  manner  in  which  he  had  acquired 
his  popular  epithet  of  Bell-the-Cat.  In  the  vain  hope  of  con- 
trolling his  discontented  nobles,  the  king  showed  his  fears 
more  than  his  wisdom  by  prohibiting  them  to  appear  at 
court  in  arms,  with  the  exception  of  Ramsay,  whose  life  had 
been  spared  upon  his  entreaty  at  the  execution  of  Lauder 
Bridge.  James  had  made  this  young  man  captain  of  his 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  345 

guard,  and  created  him  a  peer,  by  the  name  of  Lord  Both- 
well,  under  which  title  the  new  favorite  had  succeeded,  if  not 
to  the  whole  power,  at  least  to  much  of  the  unpopularity 
of  Cochrane,  whose  fate  he  had  so  nearly  shared. 

A  league  was  now  formed  against  James,  which  was 
daily  increased  by  fresh  adherents  till  it  ended  in  a  rebellion 
which  could  be  compared  to  no  similar  insurrection  in  Scot- 
tish history,  save  that  of  the  Douglas  in  the  preceding  reign. 

The  fate  of  James  III.  was  not  yet  determined,  notwith- 
standing this  powerful  combination.  He  had  on  his  side  the 
northern  barons,  and  was  at  least  as  powerful  as  his  father 
had  been  at  the  siege  of  Abercorn.  But  he  had  not  his 
father's  courage,  nor  the  sage  counsels  of  Bishop  Kennedy. 
His  wife,  Margaret  of  Denmark,  who,  there  is  reason  to 
think,  had  been  a  wise  adviser  as  well  as  a  most  excellent 
spouse,  died  at  a  critical  period  for  her  husband  (1487). 
Thus  destitute  of  wise  counsel,  the  king  was  advised  (prob- 
ably by  Ramsay)  to  arrest  suddenly  the  nobles  concerned  in 
the  conspiracy.  Unfortunately  for  the  issue  of  this  scheme, 
the  king  was  unwise  enough  to  admit  Angus  to  knowledge 
of  his  intentions.  The  earl  instantly  betrayed  them  to  the 
malcontents,  who,  instead  of  attending  the  king's  summons 
to  court,  withdrew  to  the  southward,  and  raised  their  ban- 
ners in  open  insurrection.  James,  unnerved  by  his  fears, 
repaired  to  the  more  northern  regions,  in  which  the  strength 
of  his  adherents  lay,  and  by  the  assistance  of  Athole,  Craw- 
ford, Lindesay  of  the  Byres,  Ruthven,  and  other  powerful 
chiefs  of  the  east  and  north,  assembled  a  considerable  army. 
The  insurgent  lords  advanced  to  the  southern  shores  of  the 
Forth. 

During  some  indecisive  skirmishes,  and  equally  indecisive 
negotiations,  the  associated  nobles  contrived  to  get  into  their 
hands  the  king's  eldest  son,  by  the  treachery  of  Shaw  of 
Sauchie,  his  governor.  This  gave  a  color  to  their  enterprise 
which  was  of  itself  almost  decisive  of  success.  They  erected 
the  royal  standard  of  Scotland  in  opposition  to  its  monarch, 
and  boldly  proclaimed  that  they  were  in  arms  in  behalf  of 


346  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

the  youthful  prince,  whose  unnatural  father  intended  to  put 
him  to  death,  and  to  sell  the  country  to  the  English.  These 
were  exaggerated  calumnies;  bat  it  may  be  observed  that 
the  populace  are  more  easily  imposed  upon  by  falsehoods 
suited  to  the  grossness  of  their  intellects  than  by  such  argu- 
ments as  are  consonant  to  reason.  The  king  stood  so  low  in 
public  estimation,  on  account  of  his  love  of  money  and  his 
disposition  to  favoritism,  that  nothing  could  be  invented 
respecting  him  so  base  that  it  would  not  find  credence  among 
his  subjects. 

The  king  retired  upon  Stirling;  but  the  faithless  Shaw, 
who  had  betrayed  the  prince  to  the  rebel  lords,  completed 
his  treachery  by  refusing  James  access  to  the  castle  of  that 
town.  In  a  species  of  despair,  the  king  turned  southward, 
like  a  stag  brought  to  bay,  with  the  purpose  of  meeting  his 
enemies  in  conflict.  The  battle  took  place  not  far  from 
Falkirk,  where  Wallace  was  defeated,  and  yet  nearer  to  the 
memorable  field  of  Bannockburn,  where  Bruce  triumphed. 
At  the  first  encounter,  the  archers  of  the  king's  army  had 
some  advantage.  But  the  Annandale  men,  whose  spears 
were  of  unusual  length,  charged,  according  to  their  custom, 
with  loud  yells,  and  bore  down  the  left  wing  of  the  king's 
forces.  James,  who  was  already  dispirited  from  seeing  his 
own  banner  and  his  own  son  brought  in  arms  against  him, 
and  who  remembered  the  prophecy  of  the  witch,  that  he 
should  fall  by  his  nearest  of  kin,  on  hearing  the  cries  of  the 
bordermen,  lost  courage  entirely,  and  turned  his  horse  for 
flight.  As  he  fled  at  a  gallop  through  the  hamlet  of  Mill- 
town,  his  charger,  a  fiery  animal,  presented  to  him  on  that 
very  morning  by  Lindesay  of  the  Byres,  took  fright  at  the 
sight  of  a  woman  engaged  in  drawing  water  at  a  well,  and 
threw  to  the  ground  his  timid  and  inexpert  rider.  The  king 
was  borne  into  the  mill,  where  he  was  so  incautious  as  to 
proclaim  his  name  and  quality.  The  consequence  was  that 
some  of  the  rebels  who  followed  the  chase  entered  the  hut 
and  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  The  persons  of  the  murderers 
were  never  known,  nor  was  the  king's  body  ever  found. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  347 

Thus  fell  a  king,  of  whom,  but  for  the  dark  suspicions 
attending  the  death  of  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Mar,  it  might 
be  said  that  he  was  weak  and  unfortunate,  rather  than  crim- 
inal. But  the  follies  of  monarchs  are  no  less  fatal  to  them- 
selves and  their  subjects  than  their  actual  crimes  and  vices. 
The  love  James  bore  to  the  fine  arts  might  have  been  not 
only  pardonable  but  honorable;  but  his  making  merchandise 
of  the  justice  which  he  owed  to  his  subjects,  in  order  to  raise 
palaces,  and  maintain  musical  foundations,  was  a  guilty 
indulgence.  There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  he  regulated 
his  policy  upon  that  of  Louis  XL,  with  whom  his  character 
had  some  points  of  resemblance.  They  were  both  avaricious ; 
both  disposed  to  manage  their  affairs  by  personal  favorites 
of  a  low  order;  both  distrustful  of  the  aristocracy  of  their 
respective  kingdoms.  But  James  had  the  misfortune  to 
resemble  Louis  only  in  the  weaker  points  of  his  character. 
He  had  neither  the  crafty  policy,  the  acute  foresight,  nor 
the  personal  courage  of  his  model ;  nor  are  we  entitled  to 
say  that,  except  in  one  dark  action,  his  rule  was  stained 
with  the  uncompromising  cruelty  of  his  contemporary.  He 
left  three  sons,  of  whom  the  eldest,  James  IV.,  succeeded 
to  the  throne,  under  the  odious  recollection,  for  which  he 
appears  to  have  entertained  the  most  constant  remorse,  that 
he  had  been  the  instrument  of  the  defeat  and  death  of  his 
father. 


348  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Policy  of  the  Victors  after  the  Battle  of  Sauchie  Burn — Trial  of 
Lord  Lindesay — He  is  defended  by  his  Brother,  and  acquitted—- 
Exploits of  Sir  Andrew  Wood — Peaceful  Disposition  of  Henry 
VII. — Prosperity  of  Scotland — Short  War  with  England  in 
behalf  of  Perkin  Warbeck — Progress  of  the  Scots  in  Learning 
and  Literature — James  IV. 's  splendid  Court — Marriage  between 
him  and  Margaret  of  England — Peace  between  Scotland  and 
England— Final  Forfeiture  of  the  Lordship  of  the  Isles— Meas- 
ures to  promote  public  Improvement — Naval  Affairs — James 
builds  the  largest  Ship  in  Europe — Affair  of  the  Bartons — Mur- 
der of  Sir  Robert  Kerr,  and  its  Consequences — Intrigues  of 
France  to  stir  up  James  against  England — Manifesto  of  James, 
and  Henry's  Answer — James  assembles  the  Array  of  his  King- 
dom— Omens  of  Misfortune — James  invades  England,  but  loses 
Time  in  Northumberland,  and  differs  with  his  Council — Battle 
of  Flodden,  and  Defeat  and  Death  of  James  IV. 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Sauchie  Burn,  a  pause  ensued  till 
the  actual  fate  of  the  king  should  be  known ;  for,  as 
we  have  said,  his  body  had  been  carried  off  by  those 
who  slew  him,  and  it  was  never  known  where  he  was  buried. 
The  insurgent  barons  at  length  became  aware  of  the  extent 
of  their  success.  They  easily  suppressed  an  assembly  of 
troops  made  by  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  who  had  put  himself 
hi  arms  to  revenge  the  king's  death.  The  Lord  Home,  who 
had  been  a  prime  leader  of  the  insurrection  against  James 
III.,  was  raised  to  the  office  of  lord  high  chamberlain  for 
life,  and  created  warden  of  the  east  marches.  Angus  was 
also  gratified  with  offices  of  trust  and  consideration.  Both 
these  great  peers  seem  to  have  been  so  far  men  of  wisdom 
and  moderation,  as  to  lend  their  willing  aid  to  drown  the 
recollections  of  the  civil  war,  and  establish  a  fair  and  equi- 
table government,  correcting  the  errors  which  had  crept  in 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  349 

during  the  late  reign,  but  without  disturbing  the  party  of 
the  deceased  king,  for  the  side  which  they  had  taken  dur- 
ing the  civil  war. 

This  moderation,  however,  was  not  adopted  until  the  fail- 
ure of  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  prevailing  faction  to  gain 
some  advantage  by  means  of  obtaining  fines  and  forfeitures 
from  such  of  the  lords  as  had  been  most  active  in  the  cause 
of  James  III,,  which  they  charged  as  an  act  of  treason 
against  his  son.1  Lord  Lindesay  of  the  Byres  was  the  first 
person  called  upon  before  the  parliament  to  answer  for  a 
crime  of  a  description  so  anomalous.  He  was  a  stout  old 
soldier,  bred  in  the  wars  of  France,  and  knew  no  better 
answer  to  make  to  the  indictment  than  by  offering  to  fight 
with  his  accusers,  venturing  his  own  person  against  any  two 
of  them.  The  lord  chancellor  apologized  to  the  king  for  the 
veteran's  rudeness,  the  natural  consequence  of  a  military 
education,  and  advised  Lord  Lindesay  to  submit  himself 
to  the  king's  pleasure,  who  he  ventured  to  say  would  be 
gracious  to  him.  There  stood  near  the  Lord  Lindesay  his 
younger  brother  Patrick,  who  understanding  it  was  the  wily 
meaning  of  the  chancellor  to  obtain  a  submission  on  the  part 
of  his  brother,  that  he  might  impose  some  mulct  or  penalty 
upon  him,  trod  upon  the  Lord  Lmdesay's  foot,  as  an  intima- 
tion to  him  not  to  plead  guilty,  or  "come,"  as  it  was  called, 
"into  the  king's  will."  The  hint  was  totally  lost  on  Lord 
Lindesay,  who  was  on  bad  terms  with  his  brother,  and  hap- 
pened besides  to  have  a  corn  on  his  toe,  which  made  him 
resent  the  treading  on  his  foot  as  an  injury  as  well  as  an 
insult,  for  which  he  fiercely  rebuked  his  brother.  But, 
without  regard  to  his  unreasonable  anger,  master  Patrick 
knelt  down,  and  prayed  to  be  heard  as  counsel  for  his 
brother  and  the  house  of  his  forefathers.  This  could  not 


1  So  says  the  historian,  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie,  expressly;  but  perhaps 
the  charge  may  have  been  an  accession  to  the  subsequent  attempt  of 
Lennox  to  revenge  King  James  the  Third's  fate,  which  certainly  might 
be,  with  more  decency  and  plausibility,  converted  into  an  accusation  of 
treason  against  the  young  king. 


350  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

decently  be  refused;  and  the  pleader,  in  an  exordium  of 
some  eloquence,  implored  those  whom  he  addressed,  that, 
as  victors  in  the  civil  contest,  they  would  be  pleased  to  recol- 
lect that  they  were  still  liable  to  the  vicissitudes  of  human 
affairs,  and  might  themselves  hereafter  stand  at  that  very 
bar,  and  implore  the  protection  of  the  laws  against  such 
triumphant  enemies  as  might  happen  to  be  in  power  for  the 
time.  He  therefore  conjured  them  to  administer  the  laws 
impartially,  as  they  would  desire  to  enjoy  their  protection 
if  they  should  need  it  in  their  own  case.  The  chancellor 
assured  Lindesay  that  his  pleading  should  be  fairly  heard 
and  decided  upon.  The  advocate  proceeded  to  object  to  the 
presence  in  court  of  the  young  king,  in  whose  name  the  suit 
was  brought,  and  to  his  retaining  a  seat  in  the  judicature, 
in  a  case  where  he  was  one  of  the  parties  concerned.  The 
parliament  yielded  to  his  reasoning  on  the  subject,  and  the 
young  king,  to  his  no  small  displeasure,  was  obliged  to  retire 
from  the  assembly.  The  counsel  next  stated  that  the  term 
of  the  charge,  which  ought  to  run  on  the  summons,  had  been 
suffered  to  elapse,  and  that  the  citation  bore  no  continuation 
of  days.  This  was  an  objection  in  point  of  form  which  the 
parliament  also  thought  it  necessary  to  sustain:  so  Lord 
Lindesay  was  dismissed  from  the  bar.  He  was  so  much 
astonished  at  his  escape,  for  it  may  be  believed  he  compre- 
hended nothing  of  the  nature  of  the  defence,  that  he  swore, 
in  a  rupture  of  gratitude,  that  he  would  reward  his  brother's 
fine  pyot  words  (i.e.,  magpie  talk)  with  the  lands  of  Kirk- 
fother.  The  king,  on  the  contrary,  displeased  with  what 
he  construed  into  a  personal  insult,  said  he  would  send  the 
advocate  where  he  should  not  see  his  feet  for  twelve  months, 
and  accomplished  his  threat  by  casting  him  into  the  dungeon 
of  the  Rothesay  of  Bute.  Under  what  pretext  Mr.  Patrick 
Lindesay  was  subjected  to  this  captivity  we  cannot  hope 
to  discover;  but,  if  considered  as  an  exertion  of  the  king's 
absolute  power,  it  is  wonderfully  inconsistent  with  the  free- 
dom of  debate  displayed  before  the  parliament,  and  the 
laudable  impartiality  with  which  the  case  was  decided. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  351 

Being  foiled  in  this  leading  case  of  Lord  Lindesay,  the 
other  prosecutions  against  the  barons  of  the  late  king's  fac- 
tion were  suffered  to  drop,  and  the  lords  of  the  king's  coun- 
cil, with  more  liberal  policy,  seemed  rather  disposed  to  oblit- 
erate the  recollection  of  the  civil  war  than  to  keep  it  alive  by 
trials  and  prosecutions. 

The  Scottish  historians  of  this  period  record  with  triumph 
the  valiant  exploits  of  Sir  Andrew  Wood  of  Largo,  a  Scottish 
seaman,  who  attacked  and  defeated,  with  two  vessels  only, 
an  English  flotilla  of  five  in  number,  who  were  interrupting 
the  Scottish  trade  and  plundering  their  merchant  vessels. 
Heury  VII.,  it  is  said,  affecting  to  treat  Wood's  conduct  as 
an  act  of  piracy,  offered  a  large  reward  for  the  capture  of 
him.  One  Stephen  Bull,  a  gallant  English  seaman,  under- 
took the  task  with  three  good  ships ;  but,  after  a  long  and 
desperate  action,  had  the  misfortune  to  be  himself  taken, 
and  carried  into  Dundee.  The  prisoners  were  restored  by 
James  IV.,  with  a  courteous  message  to  Henry  VII.,  now  on 
the  throne  of  England,  assuring  him  that  the  Scots  could 
fight  by  sea  as  well  as  land. 

The  deeply-politic  views  of  Henry  VII.  were  uniformly 
founded  on  a  peaceful  basis;  and  having  re-established  in 
all  points  the  truce  with  Scotland,  he  endeavored,  by  a  union 
of  the  royal  families,  to  convert  that  state  of  temporary  tran 
quillity  into  a  secure  and  lasting  peace.  This  he  proposed 
to  effect  by  a  union  between  his  daughter  and  the  young 
Scottish  king.  Nor  was  he  disgusted  when  he  found  that 
the  prejudices  of  the  Scots  made  them  pause  upon  accepting 
his  offer,  fearful  oven  of  the  most  advantageous  proposals 
when  they  came  from  the  old  enemies  of  Scotland. 

Meantime  years  glided  away  in  ease  and  tranquillity. 
The  Scottish  nobility  displayed  an  unusual  degree  of  con- 
cord among  themselves;  and  James  at  once  gratified  his 
OWQ  taste  and  theirs  by  maintaining  a  court  splendid  be- 
yond the  means  of  Scotland,  had  not  the  royal  coffers  still 
contained  a  portion  of  the  hoards  of  James  III.,  now  neither 
wasted  in  idle  refinements  of  music  and  architecture,  nor  re- 


352  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

served  to  slumber  in  inactivity;  but  employed  in  expenses 
which  served  to  connect  the  king  with  his  nobles  and  with 
his  people,  by  procuring  pleasures  which  they  could  all  en- 
joy. Unhappily,  James  IV.,  with  a  love  of  justice  and  affec- 
tion for  his  people  which  he  intimated  by  his  whole  adminis- 
tration, had  also  an  admiration  of  chivalry,  which  he  carried 
to  romantic  excess.  Nothing  delighted  him  so  much  as  jousts 
and  tournaments,  and  trials  of  skill  at  all  military  weapons; 
and  he  sought  personal  adventures  by  traversing  the  country 
in  disguise,  and  throwing  himself  into  situations  which  have 
been  recorded  in  the  songs  and  traditions  of  the  time. 

It  was  probably  by  an  appeal  to  this  romantic  cast  in 
James's  disposition  that  the  Scottish  king  was  prevailed  on 
to  take  up  the  cause  of  Perkin  Warbeck,  the  pretended  Duke 
of  York,  in  1496.  He  received  this  adventurer  at  the  court 
of  Scotland ;  he  permitted  him  to  wed  a  near  relation  to  the 
crown,  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Huntley ;  acknowledged 
Perkin's  claim  to  the  kingdom  of  England  as  authentic;  and 
supported  him  with  an  army,  at  the  head  of.  which  he  him- 
self marched  into  Northumberland,  expecting  a  general  in- 
surrection in  favor  of  his  ally.  The  expectations  of  James 
were  entirely  disappointed :  no  one  joined  with  Perkin.  The 
Scottish  king  gave  a  loose  to  his  disappointment,  and  laid 
waste  the  country.  Perkin  affected  compassion  for  the  sub- 
jects whose  allegiance  he  claimed,  and  interceded  in  their 
behalf.  "You  are  too  merciful,"  answered  James  with  a 
sneer,  '  'to  interest  yourself  for  a  people  who  are  so  tardy  in 
acknowledging  you  for  their  sovereign."  These  words  in- 
timated that  James  felt  himself  engaged  in  a  losing  adven- 
ture, which  he  soon  afterward  terminated  by  a  truce  with 
England. 

In  the  previous  negotiation,  September  30,  1498,  James 
firmly  refused  to  deliver  up  Perkin  Warbeck  to  Henry ;  but 
he  dismissed  him  from  his  kingdom,  to  pursue  elsewhere  that 
series  of  adventures  which  ended  with  his  life  on  the  gallows 
at  Tyburn.  His  unfortunate  widow  was  honorably  supported 
by  Henry  VII.,  and  long  distinguished  at  the  English  court 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  353 

by  the  title  of  the  White  Rose,  from  her  husband's  claim  to 
be  the  representative  of  the  House  of  York. 

The  unceasing  disturbances  on  the  border  every  now  and 
then  seemed  to  threaten  the  duration  of  the  tranquillity  be- 
tween the  kingdoms,  had  not  the  impetuous  and  mettled 
temper  of  the  Scottish  king  been  matched  with  the  calm, 
sagacious,  and  wary  disposition  of  Henry,  who  suffered  no 
quarrel  arising  out  of  mere  punctilio  to  interfere  with  the 
plan  which  his  wisdom  conceived,  and  seemed  as  little  dis- 
posed to  take  offence  at  James  as  an  animal  of  great  size 
and  strength  which  endures  with  patience  the  petulances  of 
one  of  the  same  species  inferior  in  these  qualities. 

Meantime  Scotland  began  to  derive  advantages  from  the 
duration  of  peace.  A  university,  the  second  in  the  kingdom, 
that  of  St.  Andrew's  being  the  first,  had  been  erected  at 
Glasgow  in  1453,  under  the  pious  care  of  Turnbull,  bishop 
of  that  see.  A  third  seat  of  learning  was  now,  in  1500, 
founded  by  Elphinstone,  bishop  of  Aberdeen.  Nor  were  the 
labors  of  these  learned  seminaries  in  vain :  learning  began 
to  be  understood,  cultivated,  and  patronized.  Douglas, 
bishop  of  Dunkeld,  made  an  excellent  translation  of  Vir- 
gil's "^Enid";  and  Dunbar,  the  Scottish  Chaucer,  appeared 
at  court,  with  a  power  both  of  heroic  and  humorous  poetry 
no  way  unworthy  the  bard  of  Woodstock.  James  IV.,  him- 
self a  poet,  loved  and  encouraged  the  Muses;  and  from  what 
remains  of  the  strains  of  the  day  it  is  obvious  he  permitted 
the  satirists  to  take  considerable  freedoms  with  his  own  foibles 
rather  than  their  vein  should  be  interrupted  or  their  spirit 
checked  by  any  severity  of  restriction.  In  a  prince  like 
James  IV.  such  a  license  shows  an  honest  consciousness  that 
his  merits  were  sufficient  to  redeem  his  reputation,  and  that 
he  could  with  safety  soar  above  and  neglect  the  petty  artil- 
lery of  the  satirists. 

The  king  had  his  father's  taste  for  architecture,  though 
not  in  its  excess.  He  improved  the  palaces  of  Stirling  and 
Falkland.  Young  and  unmarried,  he  engaged  too  much  in 
licentious  pleasures.  But  his  regard  for  the  Church  was  not 


854  .      HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

diminished ;  and,  after  the  fashion  of  the  time,  it  was  testi- 
fied by  the  foundation  of  monasteries  and  other  ecclesiastical 
establishments.  James  never  lost  a  deep  sense  of  remorse 
for  the  share  which  he  had  been  caused  to  take  in  his  father's 
defeat.  He  wore,  by  way  of  penance,  an  iron  belt  round  his 
body,  to  which  he  added  a  certain  weight  every  year  which 
he  lived.  He  also  yearly  dedicated  part  of  Lent  to  strict 
retreat  into  some  monastery,  where  rigid  prayer,  fasting, 
and  acts  of  penance,  were  unsparingly  employed  to  expiate 
the  crime  which  afflicted  the  king's  conscience.  These  dark 
intervals  must  have  made  a  singular  contrast  with  the  busy 
course  of  James's  ordinary  life,  which  was  spent  in  the  ac- 
tive discharge  of  the  administration  of  justice,  and  other 
kingly  duties;  while  each  interval  of  leisure  was  employed 
in  the  princely  pleasures  of  the  chase,  the  ball-room,  and 
the  tilt-yard.  To  keep  pace  with  other  sovereigns,  who 
affected  forming  orders  of  knighthood,  in  which  they  them- 
selves should  preside,  like  Arthur  at  his  Round  Table,  or 
Charlemagne  among  his  Paladins,  James  established  the 
Order  of  St.  Andrew,  assuming  the  badge  of  the  thistle, 
which  since  that  time  has  been  the  national  emblem  of 
Scotland. 

James  IV. ,  being  now  about  thirty  years  of  age,  began 
perhaps  to  desire  a  more  domestic  life  than  he  had  hitherto 
led;  the  rather  that  the  English  princess  Margaret,  who, 
when  the  treaty  was  first  proposed,  had  been  a  mere  child, 
was  now  rising  to  the  years  of  womanhood.  In  1503,  an  im- 
portant treaty  was  concluded,  the  effects  of  which  reached 
deep  into  futurity,  and  did  justice  to  the  wisdom  of  Henry 
VII.,  by  whom  it  had  been  so  long  urg-ed  with  such  patience 
and  perseverance.  Thirty  thousand  angel-nobles  were  to  be 
paid  as  the  queen  of  Scotland's  dowry,  and  a  jointure  of  two 
thousand  pounds  sterling  was  to  be  secured  to  her  in  case 
of  her  surviving  James.  This  marriage  treaty  was  accom- 
panied by  a  peace  between  England  and  Scotland,  the  first 
which  had  existed  since  that  of  Northampton  in  1332.  The 
articles  were  equitable,  without  advantage  on  either  side, 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  355 

unless  in  one  instance,  by  which  Scotland  renounced  in  fut- 
ure her  right  to  the  town  of  Berwick. 

In  consequence  of  these  important  arrangements,  the  En- 
glish princess  Margaret  was  conveyed  to  Scotland  with  befit- 
ting splendor,  in  1504.  James  came  flying  to  meet  her  at 
the  abbey  of  Newbattle  with  bridegroom  haste,  which  a 
spectator  compares  to  the  speed  of  a  falcon  darting  on  his 
prey.  The  marriage  was  celebrated  with  great  magnifi- 
cence, and  with  all  the  dignity  of  chivalry.  The  Highland 
and  border  chiefs  took  the  opportunity  of  challenging  and 
fighting  to  extremity ;  the  death  of  such  turbulent  subjects 
being  little  regretted  by  the  king  or  the  statesmen,  the  lat- 
ter of  whom  probably  looked  on  the  contest  with  an  eye  of 
policy  rather  than  of  romantic  admiration. 

Important  national  regulations  succeeded  these  festivities. 
The  total  suppression  of  the  dignity  of  the  lord  of  the  Isles 
was  a  remarkable,  and,  considering  the  arrogance  and  in- 
subordination of  these  petty  kings,  a  very  important  inci- 
dent. John,  lord  of  the  Isles,  having  been  deprived  of  the 
earldom  of  Ross,  and  his  continental  dominions  of  Knap- 
dale  and  Cantire,  in  1476,  had  submitted  to  restrictions  of 
his  power,  and  promised  amendment  of  his  conduct.  In 
1480,  this  intractable  prince  again  renewed  his  secret  nego- 
tiations with  England.  He  had  been  summoned  to  mate 
answer  for  these  intrigues  before  the  Scottish  parliament; 
but  the  divisions  of  James  III.'s  reign  had  prevented  the 
matter  from  being  insisted  on.  In  James  IV.'s  vigorous 
reign,  forfeiture  was  denounced  against  this  insular  prince, 
whose  lordship  of  the  Isles  became  thus  an  appanage  of  the 
crown.  Measures  were  now  taken  to  extend  to  these  distant 
and  disorderly  regions  the  advantage  of  an  equal  distribution 
of  justice.  This  was,  however,  only  sowing  seeds  of  civiliza- 
tion, which  it  required  three  centuries  and  a  half,  and  a  va- 
riety of  contingencies,  to  bring  to  maturity.  The  destruc- 
tion of  this  great  family,  formerly  the  natural  leaders  of 
misdoers,  and  the  refuge  of  the  lawless  and  ungovernable 
of  every  description,  was  a  main  step  attained  to  the  king- 


356  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

doms;  and  the  disorders  of  the  Highlands  and  the  Isles  were 
afterward  neither  so  universal,  so  frequent,  nor  so  perilous. 

Other  statutes  of  this  period  show  that  the  Scottish  legis- 
lators possessed  wisdom  superior  to  their  age,  and  evinced 
a  disposition  to  accelerate  the  improvement  of  the  country 
by  legislative  enactment.  A  just  statute  corrected  the  abuse 
of  naming  one  inferior  species  of  crime  in  the  pardons  or  re- 
missions which  were  too  often  granted  for  the  purpose  of 
afterward  using  the  same  remission  to  cover  an  offence  of 
deeper  dye.  Another  declared  no  pardon  should  be  granted 
to  deliberate  murderers.  Another  provided  for  the  punish- 
ment of  faithless  notaries.  There  is  a  series  of  regulations 
for  the  improvement  of  rural  economy,  which  imposes  a 
heavier  mulct  than  before  on  the  destroyers  of  wood,  "the 
forests  of  Scotland  being  (it  is  alleged)  utterly  destroyed." 
For  the  same  reason,  every  heritor  is  directed  to  plant  at 
least  an  acre  of  wood,  to  form  parks  and  enclosures,  con- 
struct fish-ponds,  stock  rabbit-warrens  and  dove-cots,  and 
plant  orchards.  One  statute  especially  testifies  the  inclina- 
tion of  these  wise  legislators  to  cultivate  the  arts  of  peace, 
since  it  permits  the  king,  and,  by  a  supplemental  provision, 
all  other  landholders,  to  let  in  feu  any  portion  of  land  which 
he  might  please.  The  vassal,  in  this  species  of  tenure,  was 
exempted  altogether  from  military  service,  and  held  subject 
to  the  payment  of  a  quit-rent  in  money  or  produce  in  lieu  of 
other  prestations.  The  churchmen  availed  themselves  of  this 
important  privilege,  to  the  great  increase  of  the  value  of  their 
lands,  and  the  general  cultivation  of  the  country.  Lastly, 
the  riches  which  might  be  derived  from  the  Scottish  fisheries 
did  not  escape  the  prescient  eye  of  these  statesmen,  and  they 
made  regulations  which  showed  them  sensible  of  their  value; 
though  from  want  of  boats,  nets,  and,  above  all,  of  money, 
little  could  be  done  to  realize  their  patriotic  wishes. 

James  IV.  has  been  already  mentioned  as  a  patron  of  the 
Scottish  navy,  which,  under  Andrew  Wood  and  the  two  Bar- 
tons, showed  much  alacrity  and  energy  both  on  the  coasts  of 
Holland,  of  the  Baltic,  of  Portugal,  and  elsewhere.  It  would 


HISTORY    OP    SCOTLAND  357 

seem  that  in  these  tim  -s  the  rules  of  war  were  not  so  well  un- 
derstood by  sea  as  by  land ;  since  the  vessels,  even  of  friendly 
powers,  often  met  and  fought  on  the  ocean,  for  the  same  rea- 
son, doubtless,  which  makes  an  Arab  declare  that  there  is  no 
friend  in  the  desert,  or  a  buccaneer  that  there  is  no  peace 
under  the  line.  In  several  of  these  skirmishes  the  Scottish 
mariners  defended  bravely  the  honor  of  their  flag ;  and  one 
of  them  accelerated  the  fatal  war  in  which  James  ended  his 
life. 

It  was  his  love  for  nautical  affairs  which  led  King  James 
into  the  mistaken  ambition  of  desiring  to  possess  the  largest 
ship  then  in  the  world.  The  Great  Michael,  for  such  was 
her  name,  exhausted  all  the  oak-forests  of  Fife  (that  of  Falk- 
land excepted),  and  "cumbered  all  Scotland"  before  she 
could  be  got  to  sea.  A  cannon-ball,  discharged  against  her 
by  the  king's  order,  could  not  penetrate  her  sides,  which 
were  ten  feet  in  thickness.  She  was  twelve-score  feet  in 
length,  and  thirty-six  in  wideness.  The  crew  of  this  im- 
mense galleon  amounted  to  no  less  than  three  hundred  mari- 
ners to  manage  her  on  the  sea,  and  a  thousand  soldiers  to 
combat  on  board  of  her.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  if  the  expense 
employed  on  the  construction  of  this  unwieldy  wooden  fort- 
ress had  been  bestowed  upon  the  equipment  of  eight  such 
vessels  as  were  commanded  by  Sir  Andrew  "Wood,  Scotland 
would  have  risen  to  that  rank  among  maritime  powers  which 
she  was  entitled  to  claim  from  the  advantages  of  a  seacoast 
full  of  creeks,  roadsteads  and  harbors.  But  the  construction 
of  this  huge  vessel  plainly  shows  that  James  erred  in  the 
mode  by  which  he  endeavored  to  attain  his  object. 

The  purpose  of  the  king  was  to  raise  the  character  of  the 
Scottish  marine  force;  and,  as  above  observed,  it  was  in  a 
great  measure  his  attention  to  naval  affairs  which  led  that 
prince  to  a  fatal  breach  with  England,  the  more  easily 
effected  that  the  sceptre  of  that  country  was  no  longer 
swayed  by  the  cautious  Henry  VII.,  but  by  his  son  Henry 
VIII.,  whose  temper  was  as  fiery  and  haughty  as  that  of 
the  Scottish  monarch  himself. 


358  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

A  Portuguese  squadron  having  made  prize  of  a  Scottish 
vessel  belonging  to  John  Barton,  letters  of  reprisal  were 
granted  by  James  to  Barton's  sons.  The  exploits  of  the 
Bartons  in  revenge  of  their  father's  wrongs  had  extended 
not  merely  to  Portuguese  vessels,  but  to  English  ships  bound 
for  Portugal,  and  several  such  vessels  had  been  taken  and 
plundered  by  them.  In  retaliation  for  such  unjustifiable 
depredations,  the  sons  of  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  Lord  Thomas 
and  Sir  Edmund  Howard,  were  despatched  by  Henry  VII. 
with  two  ships  to  bring  the  pirate  into  an  English  port.  Sir 
Andrew  Barton,  the  elder  brother,  boldly  encountered  the 
two  young  noblemen,  and  maintained  a  desperate  combat, 
encouraging  his  men  with  his  whistle  till  his  death  induced 
them  to  surrender. 

Another  quarrel  between  the  sister  countries,  in  1511, 
rested  on  the  following  grounds: — Some  English  borderers 
murdered  Sir  Robert  Kerr,  warden  of  the  middle  marches 
of  Scotland.  One  of  the  assassins,  named  Lilburn,  with 
Heron  of  Ford,  the  brother  of  another  commonly  called  the 
Bastard  Heron,  was  delivered  up  to  the  Scottish  king  by 
order  of  Henry  VII. ;  but  immediately  upon  the  death  of 
that  wise  prince  the  other  accomplices  of  the  murder  began 
to  show  themselves  publicly  on  the  border.  Andrew  Kerr, 
the  son  of  the  slain  Sir  Robert,  employed  two  of  his  own 
followers,  named  Tait,  to  obtain  the  revenge  which  he  had 
in  vain  sought  from  the  justice  of  England.  They  suc- 
ceeded in  their  mission,  and  brought  back  with  them  into 
Scotland  tho  head  of  Starked,  one  of  the  slayers  of  Sir  Rob- 
ert. Kerr  caused  it  to  be  exposed  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh. 
But  the  Bastard  Heron  still  lived  and  was  suffered  to  go  at 
liberty,  and  on  that  and  other  accounts  James  IV.  nourished 
a  deep  resontment  against  his  brother-in-law  of  England. 

His  discontent  was  at  the  height  when  an  envoy  from 
France  arrived  at  Edinburgh,  who  availed  himself  of  the 
power  attained  by  largesses  in  the  Scottish  court,  and  prom- 
ises and  flattery  over  the  romantic  spirit  of  the  king  himself, 
to  engage  James  in  an  alliance'offensive  and  defensive  with 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  359 

France,  the  ultimate  consequence  of  which  was  sure  to  be 
a  war  with  England.  Yet  the  rupture  was  for  some  time 
suspended;  for  Henry,  whose  purpose  it  was  to  invade 
France,  was  averse  to  leave  his  country  exposed  to  an  in- 
cursion from  Scotland ;  and  James  hesitated  on  the  threshold 
of  a  rash  undertaking.  Female  interference  at  length  deter- 
mined the  fate  of  the  chivalrous  James.  The  queen  of 
France  wrote  a  letter,  hi  which,  terming  the  king  of  Scot- 
land her  knight,  she  besought  his  assistance  on  her  behalf 
in  the  manner  and  tone  of  a  distressed  princess  of  romance 
imploring  the  succor  of  some  valiant  paladin.  A  ring  from 
the  queen's  finger  was  the  pledge  of  faith  by  which  she  con- 
jured James  to  risk  but  one  day's  march  into  England  for 
her  sake.  At  the  same  time,  a  more  solid  present  of  four- 
teen thousand  crowns  contributed  something  to  remove  the 
want  of  funds  which  otherwise  might  possibly  have  inter- 
fered with  the  projected  expedition. 

James's  first  step  to  gratify  the  queen  of  France  was  to 
despatch  a  naval  force  to  that  kingdom,  from  which  the 
greater  part  of  the  fleet  never  returned,  the  consequences 
of  the  battle  of  Flodden  having  deprived  the  government 
of  Scotland  of  the  energy  which  ought  to  have  been  exerted 
for  their  preservation,  so  that  the  vessels  rotted  neglected  in 
French  harbors,  or  were  sold  at  a  low  price  to  the  French 
king. 

James,  however,  meditated  a  more  direct  mode  of  assist- 
ing his  ally  and  chastising  Henry,  whom  he  was  now  dis- 
posed to  consider  as  an  enemy  rather  than  a  brother-in-law. 
The  Scottish  monarch  sent  a  herald  to  France,  with  a  mani- 
festo to  be  delivered  to  the  English  king,  then  preparing  to 
lay  siege  to  Terouenne.  In  this  species  of  defiance  were 
recapitulated  the  capture  of  Barton,  the  murder  of  Kerr, 
the  detention  of  a  legacy  bequeathed  by  Henry  VII.  to  his 
daughter  Margaret,  with  other  grievances;  and  it  concluded 
with  summoning  the  king  of  England  instantly  to  desist 
from  the  invasion  of  France  on  pain  of  seeing  Scotland  take 
arms  in  the  cause  of  that  kingdom.  The  English  king, 


360  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

highly  offended  both  at  the  matter  of  this  remonstrance  and 
the  terms  in  which  it  was  couched,  returned  an  answer,  in 
which  he  upbraided  James  with  perfidy,  and  even  perjury, 
in  having  broken  the  perpetual  peace  which  at  his  nuptials 
he  had  sworn  to  observe  toward  England;  he  treated  with 
scorn  Scotland's  pretence  of  interfering  hi  his  quarrel  with 
France,  and  concluded  with  retorting  defiance. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  war  was  already  commenced.  Lord 
Home,  who  held  the  dignity  of  high  chamberlain  of  Scotland, 
entered  England  with  a  considerable  force,  burned  several 
villages,  and  collected  much  prey.  It  was  not,  however, 
his  destiny  to  carry  his  booty  safe  into  Scotland.  In  march- 
ing heedlessly  through  the  extensive  flat  north  of  Wooler, 
called  Millfield  Plain,  the  Scottish  commander  fell  into  an 
ambush  of  archers  who  lay  concealed  among  the  long  broom, 
and  was  surprised,  defeated,  and  put  to  flight,  leaving  his 
brother  and  many  of  his  followers  prisoners  in  the  hands 
of  the  enemy. 

James,  stung  to  the  heart  with  the  loss  which  he  had 
sustained,  and  the  dishonor  which  Home's  defeat  had  cast 
upon  his  arms,  made  preparations  for  war  on  an  extensive 
scale.  He  summoned  the  whole  array  of  his  kingdom  to 
meet  him  at  Edinburgh  hi  arms,  each  man  bringing  with 
him  provisions  for  the  space  of  forty  days.  This  was  the 
utmost  strength  he  could  assemble,  and  the  longest  period 
for  supporting  the  war  which  he  could  make  provision  for. 
The  king  was  obeyed,  for  his  rule  was  highly  popular;  but 
it  was  with  regret  on  the  part  of  those  who  could  think  or 
reason  upon  the  subject  of  the  war,  by  all  of  whom  it  was 
considered  as  impolitic,  if  not  unjust. 

Omens,  also,  are  said  to  have  occurred  calculated  to  im- 
press the  superstitious  public  with  fearful  anticipations  of 
the  fate  of  the  campaign.  Voices  as  of  a  herald  were  heard 
at  night  at  the  market-cross  of  Edinburgh,  where  citations 
are  usually  made,  summoning  the  king  and  his  nobles  by 
name  to  appear  within  sixty  days  at  the  bar  of  Pluto.  In 
the  church  of  Linlithgow  also,  while  King  James  was  per- 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  361 

forming  his  devotions,  a  man  in  a  singularly-shaped  eastern 
dress,  assuming  the  character  of  the  Apostle  John,  solemnly 
warned  the  king  that  if  he  persevered  in  his  purposed  expedi- 
tion it  would  terminate  in  his  ruin.  The  warning  was  deliv- 
ered in  a  slow  and  unabashed  voice  and  manner,  and  con- 
cluded with  a  warning  menace  against  the  king's  indulgence 
in  libertine  amours.  While  all  were  astonished  at  the  bold- 
ness of  the  messenger,  he  escaped  from  among  them,  so  that 
he  could  not  be  apprehended.  It  is  probable  that  this  pag- 
eant, which  seemed  calculated  to  have  effect  on  the  super- 
stitious temperament  of  James  IV.,  was  devised  by  some  of 
the  nobility  who  were  hostile  to  the  invasion  of  England. 
But  the  king  proved,  unhappily,  inaccessible  to  fantastic 
omens,  as  well  as  to  the  dictates  of  reason  and  policy. 

August  22,  1513,  James  entered  England  with  as  gallant 
an  army  as  ever  was  led  by  a  Scottish  monarch ;  and  the 
castle  of  Norham,  with  that  of  Wark,  and  the  border  towers 
of  Etal  and  Ford,  were  successively  taken.  In  the  latter 
fortalice  James  made  captive  a  lady,  the  wife  of  Heron  of 
Ford,  lord  of  the  manor,  who  acquired  so  much  influence 
over  the  amorous  monarch  as  to  detain  him  from  the  prose- 
cution of  his  enterprise,  while  his  army  dwindled  away, 
owing  to  the  impatience  of  inaction  in  some,  and  the  want 
of  provisions  experienced  by  all.  The  army  was  diminished 
to  thirty  thousand  men,  when  James  was  aroused  from  his 
amorous  dalliance  by  the  approach  of  the  Earl  of  Surrey 
at  the  head  of  a  large  force  to  defend  the  English  frontiers. 
A  herald  brought  a  defiance  to  the  monarch,  in  which  the 
English  lord  stated  that  he  was  come  to  vindicate  the  death 
of  Barton,  and  challenged  the  king  of  Scotland  to  combat. 
James's  insane  spirit  of  chivalry  induced  him  to  accept  this 
romantic  proposal,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  his  best 
counsellors,  and,  among  others,  of  the  old  Earl  of  Angus, 
called  Bell-the-Cat.  "If  you  are  afraid,  Angus,"  said  the 
king  coldly  in  reply  to  his  arguments,  "you  may  go  home." 
Angus  would  not  abide  in  the  camp  after  such  an  affront: 
he  departed  with  tears  of  anger  and  sorrow,  leaving  his  two 
16  ^  VOL.  I. 


362  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

sons  and  his  followers  with  charge  to  stand  by  the  king  to 
the  last. 

It  was  on  the  6th  of  September  that  James,  removing 
from  the  western  side  of  the  river  Till,  took  up  his  camp  on 
the  hill  of  Flodden,  which  closes  in  the  northern  extremity 
of  Millfield  Plain.  In  this  advantageous  ground  he  had  the 
choice  to  fight  or  maintain  the  defensive  at  his  pleasure. 
Surrey  observed  the  advantages  of  the  king's  position,  which, 
being  very  steep  on  the  southern  side,  where  the  eminence 
sinks  abruptly  on  the  plain,  was,  in  that  quarter,  inaccessible 
to  an  attack.  Thus  situated,  the  English  commander,  find- 
ing that  provisions  were  scarce,  and  the  country  around 
wasted,  determined  by  a  decisive  movement  to  lead  his  army 
round  the  flank  of  the  Scottish  king's  position,  and  place 
himself  on  the  north  side  of  Flodden  Hill;  thus  interposing 
the  English  army  between  King  James  and  his  own  country. 
This  march  was  not  made  without  much  risk,  since  during 
the  circuit  round  the  hill  it  necessarily  exposed  the  flank  of 
the  Earl  of  Surrey's  army  to  destructive  attacks,  had  the 
Scottish  king  chosen  to  take  the  advantage  which  it  afforded 
him.  But  James,  more  distinguished  for  chivalry  in  the 
lists  than  conduct  in  the  field,  suffered  the  English  quietly 
to  march  round  the  extremity  of  his  position,  and  remained 
inactive,  until  he  saw  Lord  Surrey  pass  the  river  Till  by  a 
narrow  bridge  and  a  bad  ford.  Surrey,  having  crossed  the 
river,  continued  his  march  eastward  for  a  little  way,  then, 
forming  his  army  in  order  of  battle,  with  his  front  to  the 
south,  advanced  toward  the  Scottish  camp  by  a  declivity 
much  more  gentle  than  that  which  ascends  from  the  plain 
toward  the  southern  ridge  of  the  hill.  The  king  then  took 
his  determination  to  fight,  and  put  his  army  in  order  for 
that  purpose.  Each  host  was  divided  into  four  large  bodies, 
and  each  had  a  reserve  in  the  rear  of  the  centre. 

Of  James's  army  the  Earls  of  Huntley  and  Home  led  the 
extreme  left  wing,  chiefly  consisting  of  borderers.  Next  to 
them,  on  their  right,  were  the  Earls  of  Crawford  and  Mon- 
trose,  whose  followers  were  Highlanders.  The  king  himself 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  363 

commanded  the  third  or  central  division.  The  fourth  divis- 
ion, or  right  wing,  was  led  by  the  Earls  of  Lennox  and 
Argyle.  All  these  bodies  were  separated  by  intervals,  but 
kept  the  same  front.  The  Earl  of  Bothwell  commanded  the 
reserve,  which  was  posted  behind  the  king's  division:  this 
force  consisted  of  his  own  followers,  and  those  of  other 
chiefs  in  Lothian. 

The  English  were  nearly  in  the  same  order.  Opposed 
to  Huntley  and  Home  were  the  two  noble  brothers,  Sir  Ed- 
mund Howard  and  High  Admiral  Sir  Thomas.  The  centre 
was  led  by  Surrey  in  person,  and  the  reserve  by  Lord  Dacres. 
Sir  Edward  Stanley  commanded  the  left  wing. 

The  fight  began  on  the  Scottish  left  whig,  with  an  omen 
of  good  fortune  which  it  did  not  long  retain.  Home,  en- 
countering the  admiral  with  great  fury,  beat  him  to  the 
ground,  and  had  welhiigh  dispersed  his  division,  had  it  not 
been  supported  by  Lord  Dacres  with  the  reserve  of  English 
cavalry.  Their  support  was  so  timely  and  effectual  that 
the  Scots  were  kept  at  bay.  The  Highlanders,  under  Craw- 
ford and  Montrose,  rushed  down  the  hill  with  disorderly 
haste,  and  were  easily  routed  by  the  two  Howards.  Both 
the  Scottish  earls  fell.  During  these  conflicts  the  king's 
division  engaged  furiously  with  that  of  the  Earl  of  Surrey, 
and,  although  overwhelmed  with  showers  of  arrows,  the 
Scots  made  a  most  valiant  defence.  The  Earl  of  Bothwell, 
with  the  reserve,  bravely  supported  them,  and  the  combat 
became  very  sanguinary.  In  the  meanwhile  Sir  Edward 
Stanley,  with  the  men  of  Cheshire  and  Derbyshire,  forming 
the  English  right  wing,  totally  dispersed  their  immediate 
opponents,  the  division  under  Lennox  and  Argyle.  Both 
these  earls  fell,  and  Stanley,  pressing  onward  over  the  ground 
they  occupied,  and  wheeling  to  his  own  left,  placed  his  divis- 
ion in  the  rear  of  King  James's  broken  ranks;  and  by  an 
attack  in  that  direction  seconded  the  efforts  of  Surrey,  who 
was  engaged  with  the  Scottish  army  in  front.  But  these 
broken  and  bleeding  battalions  consisted  of  the  pride  and 
flower  of  the  Scottish  gentry,  who,  throwing  themselves 


364  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

into  a  circle  so  as  to  resist  on  all  points,  defended  themselves 
with  honorable  desperation.  No  one  thought  of  abandoning 
the  king,  who,  with  useless  valor,  fought  and  struggled  amid 
the  foremost  in  the  conflict.  Night  at  least  separated  the 
combatants ;  and  the  Scottish,  like  a  wounded  warrior,  whom 
his  courage  sustains  so  long  as  the  conflict  lasts,  but  who 
faints  with  loss  of  blood  when  it  is  ended,  became  sensible 
of  the  extent  of  their  loss,  and  melted  in  noiseless  retreat 
from  the  field  of  battle  in  which  the  king  and  his  nobles  had 
perished. 

There  lay  slain  on  the  fatal  field  of  Flodden  twelve  Scot- 
tish earls,  thirteen  lords,  and  five  eldest  sons  of  peers — fifty 
chiefs,  knights,  and  men  of  eminence,  and  about  ten  thou- 
sand common  men.  Scotland  had  sustained  defeats  in  which 
the  loss  had  been  numerically  greater,  but  never  one  in 
which  the  number  of  the  nobles  slain  bore  such  a  propor- 
tion to  those  of  the  inferior  rank.  The  cause  was  partly  the 
unusual  obstinacy  of  the  long  defence,  partly  that  when  the 
common  people  began,  as  already  mentioned,  to  desert  then: 
standards,  the  nobility  and  gentry  were  deterred  by  shame 
and  a  sense  of  honor  from  following  their  example. 

The  Scots  historians  long  contested  the  fact  that  James 
IV.  fell  in  the  field  of  Flodden ;  and  denied  that  the  body 
which  the  English  exhibited  as  the  corpse  of  that  unhappy 
king  was  in  reality  that  of  their  sovereign.  Some  supposed 
that,  having  escaped  from  the  slaughter,  James  had  gone  to 
the  Holy  Land  as  a  pilgrim,  to  appease  the  resentment  of 
Heaven,  which  he  conceived  had  sent  his  last  misfortune  in 
•Qrengeance  for  his  accession  to  his  father's  death.  But  there 
is  no  doubt,  in  the  present  day,  that  the  body  of  James  was 
found  and  carried  to  Berwick  by  the  Lord  Dacres,  to  whom 
the  king  must  have  been  personally  well  known.  It  was 
afterward  interred  in  the  monastery  of  Sheen  or  Richmond. 
The  corpse  was  pierced  with  two  arrows,  and  had  received 
the  mortal  wound  from  a  bill  or  battle-axe.  This  amiable 
but  ill-fated  monarch  left  two  lawful  children,  James,  his 
successor,  and  Alexander,  a  posthumous  infant,  who  did  not 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  366 

live  two  years,  James  TV.  was  the  only  Scottish  king  that 
fell  in  battle  with  the  English  since  the  defeat  and  death  of 
Malcolm  III.  near  Alnwick.  He  fell  in  his  forty-first  year, 
after  he  had  reigned  twenty-six  years. 

This  may  be  no  improper  time  to  take  a  rapid  view  of 
the  two  countries  as  they  stood  contrasted  with  each  other, 
in  their  civil  and  military  systems,  in  customs  and  in  man- 
ners. "We  must  be  understood  to  speak  only  of  the  lowland 
countries  of  Scotland;  for  the  Highlands  were  as  different 
from  the  Saxon  part  of  their  countrymen  as  they  were  in 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

War  was  almost  constantly  the  state  in  which  the  sister 
kingdoms  stood  in  relation  to  each  other;  so  much  so,  that 
the  two  portions  of  the  same  island  most  fitted  by  then*  rela- 
tive position  to  be  governed  by  the  same  laws  and  rules 
might  be  considered  as  looking  upon  each  other  in  the  light 
of  natural  enemies.  In  such  a  contest,  it  would  be  idle  to 
inquire  whether  either  nation  possessed  over  the  other  any 
superiority  in  strength  of  person  or  bravery  of  disposition; 
advantages  which  nature  distributes  with  impartiality 
among  the  children  of  the  same  soil.  Different  degrees  of 
discipline,  different  species  of  arms,  different  habits  of  exer- 
cise, may  be  distinctly  traced  as  the  foundation  of  advan- 
tages occasionally  observable  either  in  the  victories  of  the 
English  over  the  Scots,  or  in  those  obtained  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  northern  parts  of  the  island  over  their  southern 
neighbors. 

The  superiority  of  the  English  arose  from  two  principal 
circumstances:  first,  the  better  discipline  and  conduct  of 
their  armies,  which  at  an  early  period  mano?uvred  with  con- 
siderable art  and  address,  for  which  we  shall  presently  show 
some  reason;  and,  secondly,  on  their  unrivalled  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  long  bow,  the  most  formidable  weapon  of  the  age, 
which  neither  Scot,  Frenchman,  Fleming,  nor  Spaniard, 
could  use  with  the  same  effect  as  the  yeomen  of  England. 
These  men  possessed  a  degree  of  independence  and  wealth 


866  HISTOR1    OF  SCOTLAND 

altogether  unknown  to  the  same  class  of  society  in  other 
kingdoms  of  Europe.  They  placed  their  pride  in  having 
the  most  excellent  and  best-constructed  bows  and  shafts, 
to  the  formation  of  which  great  attention  and  nicety  were 
necessary;  and  they  had  attained  the  art  of  handling  and 
using  them  with  the  greatest  possible  effect.  Their  wealth 
enabled  them  to  procure  weapons  of  the  first  order,  and  their 
mode  of  education  brought  the  use  of  them  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  perfection.  Bishop  Latimer  says  of  himself  that, 
like  other  children,  he  was  trained  to  shoot  first  with  a  small 
bow  suitable  to  his  age,  and  afterward  with  one  fitted  to  his 
increasing  strength;  and  that  consequently  he  acquired  a 
degree  of  skill  which  far  surpassed  that  of  those  who  never 
handled  a  bow  till  they  came  to  be  young  men.  Neither 
was  the  shape  of  the  weapon  less  fitted  for  its  purpose.  The 
bow  was  of  considerable  length  and  power,  and  the  arrow, 
constructed  with  a  small  head  of  sharp  steel,  was  formed  so 
as  to  fly  a  great  distance  and  with  much  force.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Highlanders  were  the  most  numerous,  if  not 
the  only  archers  hi  Scotland.  These  mountaineers  carried  a 
weak  bow,  short  and  imperfectly  strung,  which  discharged 
a  heavy  arrow  with  a  clumsy  barb,  three  or  four  times  the 
weight  of  an  English  shaft.  To  these  advantages  on  the 
part  of  the  English  must  be  added  the  dexterity  with  which 
archery  was  practiced  by  their  yeomen,  who  always  drew 
the  bowstring  to  the  right  ear,  while  the  bowmen  of  other 
nations  pulled  it  only  to  the  breast,  and  thus  discharged  a 
shorter  shaft  from  a  much  less  formidable  bow.  The  supe- 
riority of  the  English  in  archery  cannot  be  better  expressed 
than  by  the  Scottish  proverb,  that  each  southern  archer  bore 
at  his  belt  the  lives  of  twenty-four  Scots,  such  being  the 
number  of  arrows  with  which  he  was  usually  supplied. 

In  the  possession  of  much  greater  wealth,  the  English 
bad  another  advantage  over  their  neighbors  scarcely  less 
effectual  than  that  of  their  archery.  This  enabled  them 
at  pleasure  to  summon  into  the  field  considerable  bodies  of 
mercenaries,  either  horse  or  foot,  whose  trade  was  arms. 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  367 

and  who  maintained  themselves  by  selling  their  services  to 
those  who  could  best  afford  to  pay  for  them.  It  was  natu- 
ral that  such  bands,  who  were  constantly  hi  active  service, 
should  be  much  better  acquainted  with  the  art  of  war  and 
the  discipline  of  the  times  than  the  natives  of  Scotland,  who 
only  occasionally  adopted  the  profession  of  arms.  What 
was  even  of  greater  importance  was  the  habit  of  obedience 
in  military  matters  which  these  men  had  learned  to  practice, 
and  which  (provided  always  they  were  regularly  paid)  ren- 
dered them  prompt  and  obedient  to  orders,  and  amenable 
to  discipline.  The  English  armies  were,  especially  after 
Henry  VII. 's  tune,  augmented  by  bands  from  Flanders, 
Spain,  Italy,  and  the  most  warlike  countries  then  in  the 
world,  led  by  commanders  whom  long  experience  had  made 
completely  acquainted  with  the  art  of  war,  which  was  their 
only  profession,  as  the  camp  was  their  only  home.  Their 
discipline  was  an  example  to  the  native  troops  of  England, 
and  showed  them  the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  implicit 
obedience  during  the  campaign  and  on  the  field  of  battle. 
All  these  troops  were  placed  under  the  command  of  a  gen- 
eral of  approved  abilities,  who  received  his  orders  from  the 
king  and  council,  presenting  thus  the  absolute  authority 
which  is  requisite  to  direct  the  movements  of  an  army. 

Besides  this  peculiar  advantage  of  hiring  regular  troops, 
the  wealth  of  England  enabled  her  chivalry  to  come  to  the 
field  in  full  panoply,  mounted  on  horses  fit  for  service,  and 
composed  of  men-at-arms  certainly  not  inferior  to  any  which 
Europe  could  boast.  She  had  also  at  command  money,  stores, 
provisions,  ammunition,  artillery,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to 
enable  an  army  to  take  and  to  keep  the  field. 

The  Scottish  armies,  on  the  other  hand,  were  composed 
of  the  ordinary  inhabitants  of  the  country,  who,  unless  they 
chanced  to  have  a  few  French  men-at-arms,  were  destitute 
of  any  force  approaching  to  regular  soldiers.  Their  own 
men-at-arms  were  few  and  ill-appointed;  and  though  they 
had  in  their  armies  numerous  troops  of  hardy  horses,  they 
were  too  light  for  the  actual  battle.  They  always  fought 


368  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

on  foot,  a  circumstance  which  exposed  their  broad  masses  of 
spearmen  still  more  to  devastation  by  the  English  archers, 
who  could  remain  at  a  distance  and  pour  on  them  their  fatal 
shot  without  encountering  the  brunt  of  their  pikes.  Their 
hosts  were,  indeed,  nominally  under  command  of  one  gen- 
eral; but  wanted  all  that  united  force  and  energy  acquired 
by  a  large  body  acting  with  a  common  purpose  and  under 
the  authority  of  a  single  individual.  On  the  contrary,  they 
rather  consisted  of  a  number  of  little  armies  under  separate 
chiefs,  unknown  to  or  perhaps  at  variance  with  each  other, 
and  acknowledging  no  common  head  save  the  king,  who. 
was  not  always  fit  to  command  in  person,  and  to  whom 
implicit  obedience  was  not  always  rendered. 

These  great  advantages  of  superior  address  in  the  mis- 
siles of  the  period,  and  in  superior  wealth  for  the  formation 
and  support  of  armies,  were  particularly  observable  in  gen- 
eral battles  upon  a  large  scale;  which  the  Scots,  in  their 
impatience  and  poverty  of  means  to  keep  the  field,  hazarded 
far  more  frequently  than  was  politic,  and  received  a  succes- 
sion of  dreadful  and  sanguinary  defeats,  so  numerous  and 
apparently  decisive  that  the  reader  may  be  surprised  how 
they  could  escape  the  total  subjugation  which  seemed  so 
often  impending.  But  Scotland,  to  balance  these  disadvan- 
tages, was  superior  in  some  circumstances  highly  favorable 
to  the  nation,  when  her  armies  could  withhold  themselves 
from  general  actions. 

When  the  nations  met  with  moderate  numbers  on  each 
side,  the  dissensions  so  frequent  in  a  Scottish  camp  did  not 
exist,  and  the  armed  natives  of  some  particular  district 
/ought  with  unanimity  under  a  Stewart  or  a  Douglas, 
whoje  command  was  acknowledged  by  all  in  the  field. 
Such  was  the  case  at  Otterbourne  and  many  fields  of  com- 
bat, where  neither  host  exceeded  a  few  thousand  men,  and 
still  more  frequently  where  the  numbers  were  much  smaller. 
The  Scottish  inferiority  in  archery  was  on  many  occasions 
balanced  by  the  advantage  which  their  national  weapon,  the 
Scottish  spear,  gave  them  over  the  English  bill,  with  which 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  369 

that  nation  maintained  the  combat,  when  they  joined  battle 
hand  to  hand.  The  strength  and  solidity  of  the  Scottish 
phalanx  of  spearmen,  either  for  attack  or  resistance,  is  on 
many  occasions  commemorated.  If  it  be  considered  that  a 
thrusting  weapon  is  far  more  formidable  than  one  calculated 
for  striking,  and  that  where  troops  use  the  former  they  must 
close  and  serry  their  ranks,  while,  to  have  room  to  employ 
the  latter,  they  muat  keep  loose  order,  it  is  not  assuming 
any  superior  strength  or  courage  in  the  Scots  to  say  that 
in  small  skirmishes  and  battles  of  a  secondary  class  they 
asserted  a  considerable  advantage  over  the  English. 

But,  besides  the  mode  of  fighting  hand  to  hand,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  Scots  were  natives  of  a  severe  cli- 
mate and  poor  soil,  brought  up  to  endure  rigor  of  weather, 
and  accustomed  to  scantiness  of  food,  while  at  the  same 
tune  they  waged  their  wars  chiefly  in  their  own  country,  a 
mountainous  and  barren  region,  with  whose  recesses  they 
were  familiar;  and  it  will  not  be  surprising  that,  endowed 
with  a  peculiar  obstinacy  of  temper,  they  should  have  suc- 
ceeded, against  all  other  disadvantages,  in  maintaining  such 
an  equality  with  their  powerful  neighbors  as  enabled  them 
repeatedly,  by  a  series  of  skirmishes,  ambuscades,  and  con- 
stant attacks  on  the  invaders,  to  regain  what  the  nation  lost 
in  great  general  actions. 

In  government  and  constitution  the  English  and  Scottish 
kingdoms  had  originally  the  strongest  resemblance  to  each 
other,  both  being  founded  upon  the  feudal  system,  at  this 
time  universally  adopted  in  Europe.  Indeed,  before  the 
reign  of  Henry  VII.  there  was  little  difference  between 
them.  But  the  wars  of  York  and  Lancaster  had  swept  off 
such  numbers  of  the  English  nobility,  and  left  those  who 
remained  so  shorn  of  their  power,  that  that  politic  prince 
had  no  difficulty  in  executing  his  deep-laid  purpose  of  de- 
priving the  aristocracy  of  then*  influence  hi  the  state,  and 
raising  the  crown  to  that  height  of  power  which  it  displayed 
under  the  House  of  Tudor.  This  scheme,  to  which  the  intro- 
duction of  mercenary  troops  instead  of  feudal  levies  greatly 


370  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND 

contributed,  was  slowly  and  silently  operating  to  increase 
the  power  of  the  crown  and  diminish  that  of  the  peers; 
and  the  boroughs  and  commons  of  England,  whom  the  king 
favored,  as  a  weight  in  his  own  scale,  were  yet  more  im- 
perceptibly gaining  consequence  in  the  constitution.  But  in 
Scotland  the  crown  was  possessed  of  very  little  power,  and 
the  king  could  scarce  be  considered  as  more  than  the  first 
baron  of  the  kingdom,  subject  to  be  restrained,  imprisoned, 
dethroned,  and  slam,  at  the  pleasure  of  a  turbulent  aristoc- 
racy. It  is  true  that,  when  the  Scottish  monarch  possessed 
the  love  and  affection  of  his  peers,  he  was  generally  allowed 
considerable  weight  in  the  national  councils;  but  the  extent 
of  his  power  usually  rested  on  the  degree  of  personal  estima- 
tion in  which  he  was  held.  James  III.  was  repeatedly  im- 
prisoned, and  finally  deposed  and  murdered,  by  the  same 
class  of  nobles  (in  some  instances  the  very  same  individuals) 
who  loved,  honored,  and  obeyed  his  more  popular  son  with 
such  devotion  that  they  followed  him  against  their  own  bet- 
ter judgment  to  the  fatal  field  of  Flodden,  in  which  with 
the  flower  of  his  kingdom  he  lost  his  life.  The  quiet  and 
prosperity  of  the  nation  rested  far  too  much  on  the  personal 
character  of  the  prince  to  be  capable  of  much  stability. 

The  difference  between  the  condition  of  the  lower  orders 
in  the  two  kingdoms  was  such  as  might  be  expected  from  the 
comparative  point  of  civilization  to  which  each  had  attained. 
In  England,  the  merchants  were  possessed  of  great  capital ; 
the  principal  citizens  were  skilful  and  thriving;  the  ordinary 
ones  substantial  and  easy,  living  under  the  protection  of  equal 
laws.  The  yeomen  and  farmers,  in  a  great  measure  loosened 
from  the  dominion  of  their  lords  by  the  law  against  feudal 
retainers,  and  other  laws  in  favor  of  personal  freedom,  were 
possessed  of  opulence,  and  employed  themselves  in  improv- 
ing the  agriculture  of  the  country,  instead  of  following  their 
lords  to  battle.  In  Scotland,  this  was  all  diametrically  re- 
versed. The  towns,  though  encouraged  by  favorable  laws, 
were  languishing  through  the  decay  of  commerce,  for  which 
the  Scottish  merchants  had  neither  stock  nor  capital.  Their 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  371 

subjects  of  export  were  only  hides,  wool,  and  similar  raw 
materials  which  the  country  afforded;  and,  as  almost  every 
necessary  or  convenience  of  life  was  imported  from  Flanders 
ready  made,  the  balance  of  trade  preponderated  against  the 
poorer  country.  Nor  was  improvement  to  be  expected  where 
neither  skill  nor  labor  was  in  demand,  even  had  there  been 
money  to  purchase  them.  The  country  was  scarcely  in  a 
better  condition  than  the  towns.  "War  being  the  co:...tant 
state  of  the  nation,  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  were  un«  oid- 
ably  postponed  to  the  practice  of  arms.  The  farmers,  who 
were  in  absolute  dependence  on  the  landholders,  rode  up  and 
down  the  country  in  armor,  attending  upon  their  lords,  while 
the  labors  of  the  farm  were  left  to  old  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. Bondmen  were  also  employed  in  these  domestic  du- 
ties, unworthy,  it  was  thought,  of  free  hands.  Yet  the  very 
rudeness  of  their  character  prevented  the  tenants  from  being 
oppressed  beyond  a  certain  limit.  If  a  farmer  took  a  lease 
over  the  head  of  another,  at  a  rent  which  his  poorer  neigh- 
bor could  not  afford,  the  dispossessed  agriculturist  would  kill 
his  successor,  to  be  revenged  of  his  avaricious  landlord.  Nu- 
merous laws  were  made  for  repressing  these  evils,  but  in  vain  j 
the  judges  seldom  had  power,  and  often  wanted  will,  to  en- 
force them.  The  Scottish  parliament  saw  the  disease,  and 
prescribed  the  remedy ;  but  the  difficulty  lay  in  enforcing  it. 

In  literature  the  Scots  made  a  more  equal  competition  with 
their  neighbors  than  in  other  particulars.  They  used  the 
same  language  with  the  English,  though  time  had  introduced 
a  broader  pronunciation. ' 

The  Scottish  parliament  were  so  much  impressed  with  the 
necessity  of  education  that  in  1494  they  passed  a  remarkable 
edict,  by  which  each  baron  and  substantial  freeholder  was 
enjoined,  under  the  penalty  of  twenty  pounds,  to  send  his 
eldest  son  to  the  grammar-school  at  six,  or,  at  the  utmost, 

1  Gawain  Douglas  professes  to  write  his  language  broad  and  plain, 
"keeping  no  southren  but  his  own  language,"  and  makes  an  apology  for 
using  some  words  after  the  English  pronunciation,  which  he  would 
willingly  have  written  purely  and  exclusively  Scottish. 


372  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

nine  years  of  age.  Having  been  competently  grounded  in 
Latin,  the  pupils  were  directed  to  study  three  years  in  the 
schools  of  philosophy  and  law,  to  qualify  themselves  for  oc- 
cupying the  situation  of  sheriffs,  justices  of  the  peace,  and 
other  judges  in  ordinary. 

That  this  singular  statute  had  considerable  influence  we 
cannot  doubt ;  yet  the  historian  Mair  or  Major  still  continued 
to  upbraid  the  nobility  of  his  time  with  gross  neglect  of  their 
children's  education.  But  though  a  majority  may  have  con- 
temned literature  and  its  pursuits,  in  comparison  with  the 
sports  of  the  field  or  the  exercises  of  war,  there  were  so 
many  who  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunities  of  educa- 
tion as  to  leave  a  splendid  proof  of  their  proficiency.  Dun- 
bar,  the  Chaucer  of  Scotland,  has,  in  his  Lament  for  the 
Death  of  the  Makers,  enumerated  eighteen  poets  of  eminence 
in  their  time,  who  flourished  from  the  earlier  half  of  the  fif- 
teenth century  down  to  the  reign  of  James  V.  Many  of 
then*  poems  which  have  been  preserved  attest  the  skill  and 
taste  of  the  authors;  but  the  genius  of  Dunbar  and  Gawaiu 
Douglas  alone  is  sufficient  to  illuminate  whole  centuries  of 
ignorance.  In  Latin  composition,  the  names  of  Bishop 
Elphinstone,  John  Major,  or  Mair,  Patrick  Paulner,  secre- 
tary to  James  IV.,  and  Hector  Boece,  or  Boetius,  an  excel- 
lent scholar,  though  a  most  inaccurate  and  mendacious 
historian,  attest  the  progress  of  Scottish  literature. 

The  recent  discovery  of  the  lost  classics  had  again  awak- 
ened the  light  of  learning  in  countries  which  had  been  long 
darkened  with  the  shades  of  ignorance,  and  that  light  had 
penetrated  into  both  parts  of  Britain.  But  deeper  and  more 
important  speculations  were  rapidly  expanding  themselves. 
The  art  of  printing,  now  in  full  action,  had  spread  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Scriptures  among  thousands  who  had  not  been 
allowed  to  hear  of  them  otherwise  than  as  sophisticated  by 
human  inventions.  The  Church  of  Rome  found  herself  in 
a  situation  where  she  was  encumbered  even  by  her  own  forti- 
fications. Having  once  definitively  avowed  the  doctrine  that 
her  decrees  were  infallible,  it  became  impossible  for  her,  with- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  373 

out  inconsistency,  to  sacrifice  to  the  advancing  knowledge  of 
the  period  opinions,  rites,  or  practices  adopted  during  ages 
of  ignorance,  or  to  make  any  compromise  with  the  spirit  of 
inquiry.  Thus  the  clergy  were  driven  upon  the  difficult  task 
of  smothering  it  by  authority  and  violence. 

Both  England  and  Scotland  received  in  secret  the  doc- 
trines of  the  reformers,  and  in  both  they  triumphed  still 
further  over  the  ancient  religion.  But  the  circumstances, 
manner,  and  modification  in  which  the  Protestant  faith  was 
introduced  and  received  in  the  two  kingdoms  were  so  differ- 
ent, as  seemed  at  first  rather  to  separate  them  from  each 
other  than  to  bring  nearer  the  natural  and  advantageous 
measure  of  their  union.  Heaven,  in  its  own  good  time, 
had  reserved  this  consummation  as  the  happy  point  to  which 
the  nations  were  at  length  to  be  conducted  by  a  series  of 
transactions  which  promised  a  very  different  event. 


374  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Proclamation  of  the  temporary  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh — Mod- 
erate Conduct  of  the  English — Convention  of  Estates — Duke  of 
Albany  proposed  for  Regent — Marriage  of  the  Queen-Dowager 
with  the  Earl  of  Angus — He  attempts  to  get  the  Regency  in 
Right  of  his  Wife;  but  Albany  is  preferred — His  Character — 
Angus  and  the  Queen  Mother  fly  to  England — Albany  is  un- 
popular— Trial  and  Execution  of  Lord  Home — Albany  returns  to 
France — Murder  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Bastie — Feuds  between  the 
Hamiltons  and  Douglases — Skirmish  called  Cleanse  the  Cause- 
way— Albany  returns  from  France,  and  reassumes  the  Govern- 
ment: makes  an  inefficient  Attempt  to  invade  England,  and 
again  retires  to  France — Surrey  takes  Jedburgh — Albany  returns 
for  the  third  Time  to  Scotland:  besieges  Wark — Upon  this  Siege 
being  shamefully  raised,  he  returns,  dismisses  his  Army,  and 
leaves  Scotland  forever — Intrigues  of  Henry  VIII.  among  the 
Scottish  Nobility — Queen  Margaret  once  more  raised  to  Power 
— King  James  assumes  the  Government  under  her  Guardian- 
ship— Her  Aversion  to  her  Husband  Angus,  and  her  imprudent 
Affection  for  Lord  Methven — Angus  returns  and  attains  the 
supreme  Power — Becomes  tyrannical  in  his  Administration — 
Battle  of  Melrose — Battle  of  Kirkliston — Supreme  Sway  of  the 
Douglases — Escape  of  the  King  from  Falkland — The  Douglases 
are  banished  the  Royal  Presence,  and  compelled  to  fly  into  Eng- 
land— Comparison  between  the  Fall  of  the  House  of  Angus  and 
that  of  the  elder  Branch  of  the  Douglas  Family 

THE  alarm  which  followed  upon  the  melancholy  event 
of  the  field  of  Flodden  through  the  whole  kingdom 
of  Scotland  was  universal  and  appalling;  but,  fort- 
unately, those  who  had  to  direct  the  energies  of  the  state 
under  circumstances  so  adverse  were  composed  of  a  metal 
competent  to  the  task.     The  commissioners  who  exercised 
the  power  of  the  magistracy  of  Edinburgh,  for  the  lord  pro- 
vost and  magistrates  in  person  had  accompanied  the  king  to 
the  fatal  field,  set  a  distinguished  example  of  resolution.     A 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  375 

proclamation  is  extant,  in  which,  speaking  of  the  misfortune 
of  the  king  and  his  host  as  a  rumor  of  which  there  was  yet 
no  certainty,  they  appointed  the  females  of  respectability  to 
pass  to  church,  those  of  the  lower  rank  to  forbear  clamoring 
and  shrieking  in  the  streets,  and  all  men  capable  of  bearing 
arms  to  take  their  weapons,  and  be  ready,  on  the  first  tolling 
of  the  great  bell  of  the  city,  to  attend  upon  the  magistrates, 
and  contribute  to  the  defence  of  the  town.  It  is  the  language 
of  Rome  when  Hannibal  was  at  the  gates. 

The  victorious  English  were,  therefore,  expected  to  ap- 
pear shortly  before  the  walls  of  the  metropolis;  but  Surrey's 
army  had  been  summoned  together  for  defending  their  own 
frontier,  not  for  the  invasion  of  Scotland.  The  crown  vas- 
sals did  not  remain  in  the  field  after  their  term  of  service 
had  been  rendered :  and  though  the  victory  was  gained,  yet 
a  loss  of  at  least  four  thousand  men  had  thinned  the  ranks 
of  the  conquerors.  The  absence  of  Henry  VIII.  prevented 
any  vindictive  measures,  which  he  was  likely  enough  to  have 
taken,  on  finding  the  kingdom  of  his  late  brother  by  the 
recent  defeat  exposed  to  receive  its  doom  at  the  hand  of  a 
conqueror. 

A  general  council  of  the  Scottish  nobles  was  convoked  at 
Perth  (October,  1513),  to  concert  what  national  measures 
ought  to  be  adopted  for  the  government  of  the  kingdom  at 
this  exigency.  The  number  of  the  nobles  who  gave  attend- 
ance was  few,  and  the  empty  seats  and  shortened  roll  gave 
melancholy  evidence  of  the  extent  of  the  late  loss.  The 
queen  was  readily  admitted  to  the  regency,  a  compliment 
which  might  be  intended  to  conciliate  her  brother  Henry. 
It  had  not,  however,  that  effect.  Letters  arrived  from 
France,  by  which  the  king  of  England  strictly  commanded 
and  fiercely  urged  that  the  success  at  Flodden  should  be  fol- 
lowed up  by  repeated  inroads  upon  the  Scottish  frontiers, 
where  a  desolating  though  indecisive  war  was  maintained 
accordingly. 

Driven  to  despair  by  the  severity  of  Henry,  the  Scottish 
council  began  to  look  toward  France,  and  to  turn  their  eyes 


376  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

to  a  prince  of  the  blood  royal,  now  resident  there,  and  next 
heir  to  the  crown  of  Scotland,  had  James  IV.  died  childless. 
This  was  John,  duke  of  Albany,  son  of  that  Alexander,  duke 
of  Albany,  who  was  brother  to  James  III.,  and  who,  having 
been  declared  a  traitor  for  attaching  himself  to  England,  had 
ended  his  days  in  France.  To  this  Duke  John  a  strong  party 
in  Scotland  proposed  to  assign  the  regency,  which  they  wished 
no  longer  to  intrust  with  a  female  and  an  Englishwoman, 
sister  to  a  monarch  who  used  his  success  so  unsparingly. 
Whatever  efforts  might  have  been  made  to  support  Mar- 
garet in  the  office  to  which  the  king's  will  had  admitted  her, 
they  became  unavailing  by  her  marrying  the  Earl  of  Angus 
as  soon  as  she  had  recovered  from  her  confinement,  in  which 
she  bore  a  posthumous  child  to  James  IV.  A  marriage  so 
soon  after  the  death  of  her  royal  husband  was  prejudicial  to 
her  reputation,  and,  as  it  placed  her  personally  under  the 
control  of  a  subject,  rendered  her  incapable  of  holding  and 
exercising  the  sovereign  power  of  regent. 

In  some  respects,  indeed,  her  choice  could  not  be  amended. 
Earl  Archibald  of  Angus  was  grandson  and  successor  to  him 
whom  we  have  so  often  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Bell- 
the-Cat.  His  father  and  uncle  had  fallen  at  Flodden;  his 
aged  grandfather  had  carried  his  sorrows  for  Scotland,  and 
for  his  own  loss  of  two  gallant  sons,  into  the  shade  of  relig- 
ious retirement.  This  young  man,  therefore,  was  at  the 
head  of  the  second  branch  of  the  House  of  Douglas,  which 
had  risen  to  a  degree  of  power  destined  once  more  to  make 
their  sovereign  tremble.  Angus  was  also  all  that  could  win 
a  lady's  eye;  he  was  splendid  in  attire,  retinue,  and  house- 
keeping; handsome,  brave,  and  active.  But  he  had  the 
faults  of  his  family,  being  ambitious  and  desirous  of  power; 
and  he  had  those  of  his  youth,  being  headlong  and  impetu- 
ous in  his  passions,  wild  and  unrestrained  in  his  conduct. 
He  did  not  pay  the  queen,  who  was  some  years  older  than 
himself,  that  deference  which  Margaret  might  have  expected 
from  decorum  if  not  from  affection,  and  at  best  was  a  negli- 
gent and  faithless  husband.  His  ambition  aspired  to  main- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  B77  ' 

tain  his  wife's  claims  to  the  regency,  although  forfeited,  as 
already  said,  by  her  second  marriage. 

But  the  preferable  claim  of  Albany  was  maintained  by 
the  Scottish  nobility,  who  asserted  the  right  of  the  next  in 
succession  to  rule  the  kingdom  during  the  minority  of  the 
monarch.  Albany  had,  indeed,  an  elder  brother;  but  as  a 
divorce  after  his  birth  had  passed  between  his  parents,  for 
being  related  within  the  forbidden  degrees,  he  was  regarded 
as  illegitimate.  The  right  of  this  prince  to  the  chief  govern- 
ment was  in  an  especial  manner  supported  by  the  Earl  of 
Arran,  head  of  the  House  of  Hamilton,  and  connected  with 
the  royal  family  by  his  mother,  Mary  Stuart,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  King  James  II.,  who,  when  widow  of  the  fallen 
favorite,  Thomas  Boyd,  earl  of  Arran,  had  married  the  first 
Lord  Hamilton.  The  title  of  her  first  husband  was  conferred 
upon  her  son  by  the  second,  who  thus  became  the  first  earl 
of  Arran  of  the  name  of  Hamilton.  This  powerful  noble- 
man, waiving  some  pretensions  which  he  himself  might  have 
made  to  the  regency,  added  great  weight  to  that  party  which 
pleaded  the  rights  of  Albany.  In  1515,  the  Duke  of  Albany 
came  over  to  Scotland,  accordingly,  and  was  installed  as  re- 
gent. In  the  same  year  the  lingering  war  with  England 
was  put  an  end  to  by  the  inclusion  of  Scotland  in  the 
peace  which  had  been  agreed  upon  between  France  and 
that  country. 

The  Regent  Albany,  bred  in  the  court  of  Francis  I.,  and 
a  personal  favorite  of  that  monarch,  was  more  of  a  courtier 
than  a  soldier  or  a  statesman ;  and  the  winning  qualities 
of  vivacity  and  grace  of  manners  which  had  gained  him 
favor  and  applause  while  in  France  were  lost  on  the  rude 
nobility  of  Scotland.  He  possessed  the  pride  of  high  birth, 
and  the  command  of  considerable  wealth,  for  his  wife  had 
been  heiress  of  the  county  of  Auvergne;  but  his  talents 
were  of  a  mean  order,  and  he  was  alike  insolent  and  pusil- 
lanimous. 

Albany  was  not  long  in  showing  that  he  was  about  to 
direct  the  power  of  regent,  now  that  he  had  obtained  the 


378  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

office,  against  Angus  and  his  wife,  by  whom  his  ascent  to 
the  dignity  had  been  opposed.  He  obtained  an  order  from 
the  parliament  that  the  royal  children  should  be  delivered 
up  to  him.  Margaret,  after  a  vain  resistance,  was  compelled 
to  place  the  infant  king  and  his  short-lived  brother  Alexander 
under  the  suspicious  care  of  an  aspiring  kinsman ;  and  her 
husband  Angus  hastened  to  the  border,  to  consult  with  Lord 
Home  upon  some  means  of  withstanding  the  oppressive  se- 
verity of  the  regent's  government.  Albany,  however,  was 
powerful  enough  to  disconcert  all  their  measures,  even  though 
Arran,  deserting  the  regent's  party,  was  so  mutable  as  to 
make  common  cause  with  Home.  The  queen-mother,  far 
advanced  hi  her  pregnancy,  was  driven  into  England,  where 
she  was  delivered  of  a  female  infant,  in  the  miserable  turret 
of  a  Northumbrian  baron,  from  which  she  afterward  took 
refuge  in  her  brother's  court.  The  circumstance,  however, 
of  having  been  born  in  England  was  of  considerable  advan- 
tage to  the  Lady  Margaret  Douglas  in  calculating  her  prox- 
imity to  the  English  crown. 

Meantime  the  regent  became  unpopular.  The  younger 
of  the  two  Scottish  princes  died  in  his  custody,  not  without 
foul  suspicion  of  neglect  or  poison.  The  nation  sympathized 
with  the  distresses  and  danger  of  the  royal  family;  the  dis- 
satisfaction at  Albany's  government  became  universal;  and 
the  king's  person  was  taken  from  his  custody,  and  placed  in 
the  hands  of  certain  select  peers,  to  whose  loyalty  he  might 
be  safely  intrusted.  The  regent  found  his  power  restricted 
and  his  situation  unpleasant,  and  entertained  thoughts  of 
withdrawing  from  the  rude  kingdom  which  he  had  under- 
taken to  govern.  He  seems  to  have  suspended  his  purpose 
only  till  he  made  the  experiment,  whether  by  one  grand  ex- 
ertion of  authority  he  might  not  reduce  to  obedience  those 
troublesome  peers  by  whom  his  government  had  been  re- 
peatedly disturbed.  This  blow  descended  on  the  Lord  Home, 
who,  being  the  favorite  of  the  late  king,  and  the  close  ally  of 
Angus,  had  maintained  in  the  eastern  marches  a  resistance 
to  the  regent's  authority,  and  a  constant  communication  with 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  379 

England.  In  1516,  being  imprudent  enough  to  trust  his  per- 
son and  that  of  his  brother  within  reach  of  the  regent's  au- 
thority, Lord  Home  was  seized,  tried,  and  executed.  But 
this  exertion  of  power  had  no  effect,  save  that  of  exciting, 
as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  the  vindictive  rage  of  the  friends 
of  the  deceased  victim  of  justice  or  of  vengeance.  In  the 
year  in  which  Home  was  beheaded,  Albany  obtained  or  ex- 
torted the  permission  of  the  estates  to  pay  a  visit  to  France. 
At  the  same  time,  although  the  duke's  name  was  retained 
as  regent,  the  real  power  was  lodged  in  a  council,  in  which 
Angus,  having  now  returned  to  Scotland,  held  a  seat.  His 
wife,  Queen  Margaret,  was  received  back  with  all  due  honor, 
and  there  seemed  reason  to  think  that  something  like  a  steady 
government  was  at  length  formed. 

The  contrary,  however,  was  soon  visible.  Anthony 
d'Arcy,  Seigneur  de  la  Bastie,  a  French  knight  of  great 
courage  and  fame,  had  been  left  by  the  regent  in  the  impor- 
tant situation  of  warden  of  the  eastern  marches,  and  had 
taken  up  the  duties  of  the  office  with  a  strict  hand.  But 
Home  of  Wedderburn,  a  powerful  chief  of  the  name,  could 
not  brook  that  an  office  usually  held  by  the  head  of  his  house 
should  be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  a  foreigner  dependent  on 
the  regent,  by  whom  Lord  Home  had  been  put  to  death. 
Eager  for  revenge,  the  border  chieftain  waylaid  the  new 
warden  with  an  ambuscade  of  armed  men.  Seeing  himself 
beset,  the  unfortunate  d'Arcy  endeavored  to  gain  the  castle 
of  Dunbar;  but  having  run  his  horse  into  a  morass  near 
Dunse,  he  was  overtaken  and  slain  (1517).  Home  knitted 
the  head  to  his  saddle-bow  by  the  long  locks  which  had 
been  so  much  admired  in  courtly  assemblies,  and  placed 
it  on  the  ramparts  of  Home  Castle,  as  a  pledge  of  the 
vengeance  exacted  for  the  death  of  the  late  lord  of  that 
fortress. 

The  peace  of  the  kingdom  was  also  disturbed  by  a  con- 
stant dissension  between  the  parties  of  Hamilton  and  Doug- 
las, in  other  words,  between  the  Earls  of  Angus  and  Arran. 
They  used  arms  against  each  other  without  hesitation.  At 


380  HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND 

length,  January,  1520,  a  parliament  being  called  at  Edin- 
burgh, the  Earl  of  Angus  appeared  with  four  hundred  of  his 
followers,  armed  with  spears.    The  Hamiltons,  not  less  eager 
and  similarly  prepared  for  strife,  repaired  to  the  capital  in 
equal  or  superior  numbers.     They  assembled  in  the  house 
of  the  chancellor  Beaton,  the  ambitious  archbishop  of  Glas- 
gow, who  was  bound  to  the  faction  of  Arran  by  that  noble- 
man having  married  the  prelate's  niece.     Gawain  Douglas, 
bishop  of  Dunkeld,  a  son  of  Earl  Bell-the-Cat,  and  the  cele- 
brated translator  of  Virgil,  labored  to  prevent  the  factions 
from  coming  to  blows.     He  applied  to  Beaton  himself,  as 
official  conservator  of  the  laws  and  peace  of  the  realm.    Bea- 
ton, laying  his  hand  upon  his  heart,  protested  upon  his  con- 
science he  could  not  help  the  affray  which  was  about  to  take 
place.     "Ha!  my  lord,"  said  the  advocate  for  peace,  who 
heard  a  shirt  of  mail  rattle  under  the  bishop's  rochet,  "me- 
thinks  your  conscience  clatters."     The  bishop  of  Dunkeld 
then  had  recourse  to  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton,  brother  to  the 
Earl  of  Arran,  who  willingly  attempted  to  exhort  his  kins- 
men to  the  preservation  of  peace,  until  he  was  rudely  up- 
braided with  reluctance  to  fight  by  Sir  James  Hamilton, 
natural  son  to  his  brother,  and  a  man  of  a  fierce  and  san- 
guinary disposition.     "False  bastard!"  said  Sir  Patrick,  in 
wrath,  "I  will  fight  to-day  where  thou  darest  not  be  seen." 
There  were  now  no  more  thoughts  of  peace,  and  the 
Hamiltons,  with  their  western  friends  and  allies,  rushed  in 
fury  up  the  lanes  which  led  from  the  Cowgate,  where  the 
bishop's  palace  was  situated,  intending  to  take  possession 
of  the  High  Street.     But  the  Douglases  had  been  before- 
hand with  them,  and  already  occupied  the  principal  street, 
with  the  advantage  of  attacking  their  enemies  as  they  issued 
in  disorder  from  the  narrow  closes  or  lanes.    Such  of  Angus's 
followers  also  as  had  not  lances  were  furnished  with  them 
by  the  favor  of  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh,  who  handed  them 
over  then*  windows.     These  long  weapons  gave  the  Doug- 
lases great  advantage  over  their  enemies,  and  rendered  it 
easy  to  bear  them  down,  as  they  struggled  breathless  and 


HISTORY    OP    SCOTLAND  381 

disordered  out  of  the  heads  of  the  lanes.  Nor  was  this 
Angus's  only  piece  of  fortune :  Home  of  "Wedderburn,  also 
a  great  adherent  of  the  Douglases,  arrived  while  the  battle 
was  yet  raging,  and,  bursting  his  way  through  the  Nether- 
bow  Gate  at  the  head  of  his  formidable  borderers,  appeared 
in  the  street  in  a  decisive  moment.  The  Hamiltons  were 
driven  out  of  the  city,  leaving  upward  of  seventy  men  dead, 
one  of  whom  was  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton,  the  advocate  for 
peace.  The  Earl  of  Arran  and  his  natural  son  were  so  far 
endangered,  that,  meeting  a  collier's  horse,  they  were  fain 
to  throw  off  its  burden,  and,  both  mounting  the  same  miser- 
able animal,  they  escaped  through  a  ford  in  the  loch  which 
then  defended  the  northern  side  of  the  city. 

The  consequences  of  this  skirmish,  which,  according  to 
the  humor  of  the  age,  was  long  remembered  by  the  name 
of  Cleanse  the  Causeway,  raised  Angus  for  a  little  time 
to  the  head  of  affairs.  But,  unable  to  reacquire  the  lost 
affection  of  his  wife,  the  queen-dowager,  the  latter,  in  her 
aversion  to  her  husband  and  resentment  of  his  infidelities 
and  neglects,  joined  in  soliciting  the  return  of  Albany,  an 
event  which  took  place  December  3,  1521.  Angus  and  his 
party,  alarmed  at  his  arrival,  and  remembering  the  fate 
of  Lord  Home  and  his  brother,  made  a  precipitate  retreat 
from  Edinburgh,  and  took  refuge  in  England.  A  new 
change  of  administration  followed  with  little  advantage 
to  the  unfortunate  and  ill-governed  nation.  Placing  him- 
self at  the  head  of  a  party  which  might  be  called  the  French 
interest  in  Scotland,  Albany,  ignorant  of  and  indifferent  to 
the  real  interests  of  his  country,  endeavored  so  to  rule  the 
kingdom  as  might  best  serve  the  purposes  of  France,  her 
powerful  ally. 

The  flimsy  species  of  peace  with  England,  which  had 
hitherto  been  maintained  by  ill-observed  truces,  did  not 
prevent  the  most  murderous  and  desolating  ravages  between 
the  borderers  on  both  sides.  Albany  appeared  on  the  west- 
ern frontier  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  eighty  thousand  men ; 
but,  cowardly  in  war  as  he  was  presuming  in  peace,  having 


382  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

had  a  single  interview  with  Lord  Dacres,  he  consented  to 
sheathe  his  sword,  and  omitted  the  opportunity  of  doing 
some  considerable  service,  which  was  the  rather  to  have 
been  expected,  as  the  king  of  England  had  no  army  on  foot 
to  encounter  that  of  Scotland. 

The  regent,  feeling  himself  a  second  time  the  object  of 
general  dislike  and  contempt,  again  escaped  from  the  tumultu- 
ous scene,  and  retired  to  France,  leaving  a  council  of  regency 
to  sustain  as  well  as  they  might  the  war  which  his  rashness 
had  awakened,  and  to  collect  as  they  best  could  the  materials 
of  defence  which  he  had  dissipated  and  thrown  away.  In 
the  spring  of  1523,  Henry  VIII.  sent  the  Earl  of  Surrey  to 
the  borders  with  a  considerable  army,  to  repay  the  threat- 
ened invasion  of  Albany.  This  enterprising  general  resolved 
to  sweep  the  Scottish  frontiers,  and  desolate  them  so  effect- 
ually as  to  render  them  totally  uninhabitable  for  nine  miles 
beyond  the  border  of  England. 

With  this  purpose  he  advanced  upon  Jedburgh,  in  spite 
of  the  opposition  of  about  fifteen  hundred  borderers,  who 
skirmished  so  boldly  with  Surrey's  vanguard  that  he  terms 
them  the  boldest  and  most  ardent  men-at-arms  whose  feats 
he  ever  witnessed,  adding  that,  if  forty  thousand  such  sol- 
diers could  be  assembled,  it  would  be  hard  to  withstand 
them.  Driving  this  handful  of  Scots  before  him,  Surrey 
reached  Jedburgh,  which  was  taken  by  storm,  after  a  gal- 
lant defence.  The  fine  abbey  was  also  carried  by  assault, 
after  it  had  been  valiantly  held  out  till  late  in  the  evening. 
The  ruins  still  exhibit  marks  of  the  injuries  which  were  then 
inflicted.  This  town,  then  rich  and  spacious,  was  set  on  fire 
by  the  English  soldiery.  But  the  victors  were  thrown  into 
much  confusion  through  the  wilfulness  of  Lord  Dacres,  who 
commanded  the  cavalry.  This  nobleman  did  not  choose  to 
bring  his  horsemen  within  the  fortified  camp,  which  Surrey 
had  appointed  for  his  quarters.  The  consequence  was  that 
in  the  evening  the  horse-quarter  was  surprised,  and  most 
of  the  horses  cut  loose  from  their  picketing.  The  animals, 
finding  themselves  at  liberty,  ran  furiously  past  the  fortified 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  383 

camp  of  Surrey,  whose  soldiers  manned  their  defences,  and, 
unable  to  discern  the  true  cause  of  the  alarm,  shot  both 
with  bows  and  guns  against  the  Scottish  assailants  as  they 
thought.  Many  horses  were  carried  off  by  the  Scottish 
women,  who  fearlessly  seized  them  in  the  scuffle.  So  many 
steeds  were  slain  or  taken  that  about  a  thousand  English 
cavaliers  were  seen  to  walk  afoot  the  next  day. 

While  the  two  countries  were  thus  engaged  in  fierce  con- 
tention, both  Scots  and  English  were  astonished  to  hear  of 
Albany's  return,  with  a  small  French  army,  in  number 
between  four  and  five  thousand  men,  and  a  quantity  of 
arms  and  treasure.  "With  this  new  display  of  wealth  and 
auxiliaries  the  regent  endeavored  to  engage  the  Scottish 
nobles  in  a  common  effort  against  England,  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  promise  of  firm  support  from  the  par- 
liament. Including  his  French  auxiliaries,  Albany  assem- 
bled a  force  estimated  at  sixty  thousand.  With  this  large 
army  he  formed  the  siege  of  Wark  Castle,  in  1523.  The 
assailants  took  the  outer  circuit  of  the  castle,  and  attacked 
the  keep;  but  the  Earl  of  Surrey  advancing  from  Barmoor 
Wood,  the  Duke  of  Albany  shamefully  raised  the  siege,  and 
retreated  at  the  head  of  his  well-appointed  and  numerous 
army,  which  he  soon  after  dismissed.  He  retired  to  Edin- 
burgh, and  having  dissipated  the  treasures  which  he  brought 
with  him,  and  shown  to  a  demonstration  his  unfitness  to 
command  an  army,  he  made  his  final  retreat  to  France, 
loaded  with  the  curses  and  reproaches  of  the  nation  from 
which  he  derived  his  ancestry. 

After  the  flight  of  Albany  the  English  interest  once  more 
began  to  predominate  in  the  Scottish  councils;  for  Henry 
VIII.  had  again  adopted  his  father's  policy,  and  instead  of 
endeavoring  to  conquer  Scotland,  and  render  it  a  part  of  his 
dominions  by  dint  of  arms,  was  contented  to  aim  at  main- 
taining such  an  influence  in  the  councils  of  that  country  as 
a  wealthy  and  powerful  nation  may  always  find  means 
of  acquiring  in  the  government  of  one  that  is  poorer  and 
weaker  than  herself.  The  present  revolution  seemed  the 


384  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

more  favorable  to  the  interest  of  England,  since  it  raised 
Margaret  once  more  to  an  efficient  power  in  the  Scottish 
government.  She  came  from  Stirling  to  Edinburgh,  and 
announced  that  her  son,  James  V.,  now  a  boy  of  twelve 
years  old,  was  determined  to  take  the  sovereign  power  into 
his  own  hands.  A  great  many  of  the  Scottish  peers,  upon 
hearing  this  information,  associated  themselves  for  protec- 
tion of  the  young  king's  government,  and  for  declaring  the 
termination  of  Albany's  regency.  It  was  clear,  notwith- 
standing, as  the  independent  government  of  a  boy  of  twelve 
years  old  could  be  only  nominal,  that  James's  councils  must 
be  guided  and  directed  by  some  familiar  advice,  and  nothing 
could  be  more  natural  than  that  he  should  find  that  coun- 
sellor in  an  affectionate  mother. 

The  English  king  and  his  minister  Wolsey  at  this  crisis 
anxiously  desired  that  Margaret  would  consent  to  a  recon- 
ciliation with  her  husband  Angus,  in  whose  attachment  to 
the  interests  of  England  they  had  great  confidence,  and 
whose  masculine  judgment  they  supposed  to  be  necessary 
in  aiding  the  queen-dowager  to  support  the  weight  of  gov- 
ernment. But  the  passions  of  Margaret  had  some  of  the 
fickleness  and  all  the  impetuosity  of  her  brother's. 

She  retained  a  deep  resentment  and  even  detestation 
against  her  husband,  and  gave  her  brother  plainly  to  under- 
stand that  any  attempt  to  intrude  Angus  on  her  society, 
or  even  the  granting  him  licenses  to  return  from  England, 
would  forfeit  Henry's  share  of  the  interest  which  the  last 
revolution  had  given  her  in  the  affairs  of  Scotland.  The 
truth  was  that  Margaret  with  an  unmatronly  levity  had 
become  enamored  of  a  young  gentleman  named  Henry 
Stuart,  second  son  of  Andrew,  lord  Evandale,  and  already 
entertained  hopes  of  ridding  herself  of  Angus  by  a  divorce, 
and  then  conferring  her  hand  upon  this  younger  favorite. 
In  the  meantime  she  raised  the  favored  youth  to  the  dignity 
of  Lord  Treasurer  of  Scotland.  By  such  light  conduct  Mar- 
garet alienated  the  affections  of  the  nobles,  while  she  in- 
creased their  discontent  by  excluding  them  from  her  coun- 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

cils,  and  listening  only  to  the  advice  of  her  lover,  and  other 
inexperienced  young  men. 

Blaming  the  conduct  of  his  sister,  and  expecting  a  more 
firm  support  from  the  government  of  Angus,  whose  misfort- 
unes might  be  supposed  to  have  taught  him  wisdom,  Henry 
now  countenanced  the  return  of  the  earl,  hi  hopes  that  he 
might  still  be  able  to  effect  some  reconciliation,  ostensible 
at  least,  between  him  and  the  queen.  This  was  found  totally 
impossible;  and  Angus,  having  determined  to  destroy  his 
wife's  power  if  he  could  not  share  it,  attempted  to  supplant 
her  authority,  first  by  an  escalade  pf  the  town  of  Edinburgh, 
hi  which  he  was  assisted  by  Scott  of  Buccleuch,  and  other 
border  chiefs,  and  afterward  by  a  union  with  the  wily  and 
able  Archbishop  Beaton,  with  whom  he  effected  a  reconcil- 
iation, and  formed  a  party,  the  object  of  which  was  to  free 
the  young  king  from  the  tutelage  of  his  mother.  The  strug- 
gle ended  in  the  youthful  monarch's  being  committed  to  the 
charge  of  a  council  of  lords,  the  queen  being  allowed  to  pre- 
side at  their  sittings,  a  power  which  consisted  in  appearance 
rather  than  reality. 

This  revolution  was  completed,  when  the  king,  having 
arrived  at  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  made  choice  of  Angus, 
who  had,  by  the  most  sedulous  attention,  obtained  great 
influence  over  his  mind,  for  administering  the  royal  au- 
thority. But  this  state  of  things  by  degrees  terminated 
in  the  absolute  ascendency  of  Angus.  As  some  atonement 
to  the  imprudent  queen  for  having  thus  expelled  her  from 
all  share  of  power,  he  ceased  to  oppose  the  divorce  which 
Margaret  so  anxiously  desired,  and  no  sooner  was  it  obtained 
than  the  royal  matron  hastened  to  wed  her  youthful  lover, 
Henry  Stuart,  who  was  afterward  created  Lord  Methven. 

When  Angus  had  attained  the  supreme  power,  which  had 
been  so  long  the  object  of  his  ambition,  the  use  which  he 
made  of  it  was  not  corresponding  to  the  sagacity  he  had  dis- 
played in  the  acquisition.  He  gave  far  greater  attention 
to  supporting  and  providing  for  his  own  friends  and  follow- 
ers than  to  ruling  the  kingdom  at  large  with  justice  and 
17  /%,  VOL.  I. 


386  HISTOBY   OF   SCOTLAND 

equity;  and  his  relations  and  clansmen  felt  so  much  their 
own  license  and  impunity  that  it  was  currently  said  that, 
whatever  complaints  were  brought  respecting  actions  of 
theft,  rapine,  and  slaughter,  it  was  useless  and  dangerous 
to  insist  on  them,  if  a  Douglas  or  the  dependent  of  a  Douglas 
were  one  of  the  parties  inculpated.  And  although  the  Earl 
of  Angus  and  the  lords  of  his  faction  made  progresses 
through  the  country  under  pretence  of  administering  jus- 
tice, and  putting  down  oppressors  and  murderers,  "yet," 
says  honest  Pitscottie,  "there  were  no  greater  homicides 
and  felons  to  be  found  than  those  who  rode  in  their  own 
company." 

The  government  of  Angus,  being  that  of  a  predominant 
family  and  faction,  was  not  only  universally  complained  of 
as  unjust  and  oppressive  by  the  country  in  which  it  was  ex- 
ercised, but  became  odious  to  the  king  also,  in  whose  name 
and  authority  it  was  carried  on.  Angus,  as  we  have  already 
said,  had  at  first  conciliated  the  goodwill  of  the  youthful 
king,  by  making  himself  the  channel  through  which  James 
received  all  the  presents  which  Henry  VIII.  used  occasion- 
ally to  send  to  his  nephew,  and  by  carefully  studying  his 
taste,  in  order  to  anticipate  and  comply  with  his  inclina- 
tions ;  but  when  the  earl  became  established  in  his  author- 
ity, he  began  to  exercise  it  without  regard  to  the  wishes  of 
the  young  monarch,  and  often  in  direct  contradiction  to 
them.  In  this  Angus  was  guided  by  the  councils  of  his 
brother  Sir  George,  a  man  of  a  fiery  and  haughty  temper, 
who  preferred  governing  by  fear  and  constraint  rather  than 
by  fair  means  and  flattery. 

This  order  of  things  could  not  exist  long  without  the  king 
making  some  effort  to  free  himself  from  a  yoke  which  was 
at  once  galling  and  degrading;  but  such  was  the  state  of 
Scotland  at  that  period,  that  the  king's  person  was  regarded 
as  the  symbol  of  the  royal  power;  and  while  Angus  could 
retain  possession  of  James  himself,  he  cared  little  whether 
or  not  he  possessed  the  royal  affections.  The  young  king, 
however,  determined  in  secret  to  escape  from  him  at  what- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  387 

ever  risk,  end  entered  into  more  than  one  plot  for  accom- 
plishing his  freedom. 

The  first  of  these  attempts  exploded  at  Melrose  on  the 
25th  of  July,  1526.  Angus  had  brought  the  king  thither 
with  the  purpose  of  quelling  some  recent  disturbances  on 
the  frontier;  but  on  leaving  the  town,  and  approaching  the 
bridge  in  his  return,  he  was  encountered  by  Sir  Walter  Scott 
of  Buccleuch,  at  the  head  of  a  thousand  horse.  His  purpose 
being  demanded,  the  chieftain  replied  that  he  came  like  other 
border  men  to  show  his  followers  to  the  king,  and  to  invite 
him  to  his  house.  He  added,  that  he  knew  the  king's  mind 
as  well  as  Angus.  A  smart  action  immediately  took  place, 
in  which  the  Scotts  were  defeated  with  the  loss  of  eighty 
men;  but  many  were  also  killed  on  the  opposite  side,  in 
particular  Sir  Andrew  Ker  of  Cessford,  whose  slaughter 
made  a  long  and  deadly  feud  between  these  two  powerful 
clans. 

It  was  generally  suspected  that  the  enterprise  of  Buccleuch 
had  been  instigated  by  Lennox,  who,  now  retiring  from  the 
court,  entered  into  a  league  with  Chancellor  Beaton,  whom 
the  predominance  of  Angus  had  nearly  reduced  to  insignifi- 
cance as  a  member  of  the  administration,  and  to  whom,  of 
course,  the  power  of  the  Douglases  was  obnoxious.  The 
queen-mother  seems  also  to  have  entered  into  the  views  of 
the  party.  Lennox,  who  was  universally  esteemed  and 
beloved,  raised  a  considerable  army,  and  advanced  toward 
Edinburgh  from  the  westward.  It  is  probable  that  Lennox 
was  in  hope  of  obtaining  the  support  of  the  Earl  of  Arrau 
on  this  occasion;  he  was  Lennox's  uncle,  and  the  ancient 
rival  of  Angus.  But  their  strife  had  been  appeased  since 
the  battle  of  Cleanse  the  Causeway,  and  Arran  drew  out 
his  forces  in  support  of  Angus,  and  not  in  opposition  to 
him.  He  marched  toward  Lennox  at  the  head  of  a  body 
of  men  equal  to  that  of  the  insurgents.  The  armies  met: 
Lennox  and  his  host  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kirk- 
liston, and  Angus  rushed  out  from  Edinburgh  to  support 
Arrau.  Sir  George  Douglas  followed,  bringing  with  him 


388  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

the  young  king  in  person,  and  the  citizens  of  Edinburgh. 
Observing  the  king's  great  unwillingness  to  proceed,  as  the 
noise  of  the  artillery  on  both  sides  now  apprised  them  that 
the  conflict  was  hotly  maintained,  "I  read  your  majesty's 
thoughts,"  said  the  stern  Douglas;  "but  do  not  deceive 
yourself.  If  your  enemies  had  hold  of  you  on  one  side, 
and  we  on  the  other,  we  would  tear  you  asunder,  rather 
than  quit  our  hold": — rash  words,  which  the  king  never 
forgave. 

On  reaching  the  field  of  battle,  they  found  the  victory 
was  with  Angus.  Lennox,  after  having  been  taken,  was 
slain  by  Sir  James  Hamilton  the  Bastard,  whose  sanguinary 
temper  has  been  already  mentioned.  Arran  was  mourning 
beside  the  dead  body  of  his  nephew,  over  which  he  had  laid 
his  scarlet  cloak.  "The  best,"  he  said,  "the  wisest,  the 
bravest  man  in  Scotland  lies  here  slain." 

The  insurrection  against  Angus's  government  being  thus 
a  second  time  quelled,  the  chancellor,  after  lurking  for  some 
time  among  the  hills  in  the  disguise  of  a  shepherd,  was  com- 
pelled to  purchase  peace  by  a  copious  distribution  of  ready 
money,  and  surrender  of  ecclesiastical  benefices  in  favor  of 
the  prevailing  party.  The  young  king  obtained  by  his  inter- 
cession some  favor  for  his  mother;  and  the  authority  of 
Angus  became  more  despotic,  and  was  stronger  than  ever. 
This  ambitious  earl  shortly  after  took  upon  himself  the  office 
of  chancellor,  and  surrounded  the  king  even  more  closely 
than  before  with  his  clients  and  dependents,  whom  James 
felt  now  tempted  to  regard  as  his  jailers  rather  than  his 
servants.  Wherever  he  turned,  his  eye  lighted  on  the  dark 
complexion  and  vigilant  eye  of  a  Douglas.  Douglas  of 
Parkhead  commanded  a  guard  of  one  hundred  men,  rather 
to  control  the  king's  motions  than  to  defend  his  person.  His 
minister  Angus  never  stirred  from  his  presence,  or  if  he  did, 
he  left  him  under  the  yet  more  stern  custody  of  his  brother, 
Sir  George  Douglas. 

The  young  monarch  was  compelled  to  dissemble  and 
appear  satisfied  with  his  situation,  in  order  to  disarm  the 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  889 

vigilance  of  those  by  whom  he  was  thus  closely  watched. 
This  device  succeeded  so  well  that  the  Douglases,  conceiv- 
ing the  king  to  be  altogether  occupied  with  sylvan  sports 
and  amusements,  lost  a  part  of  the  jealousy  with  which 
they  regarded  his  motions. 

In  the  beginning  of  July,  the  king  being  at  Falkland, 
his  whole  attention  apparently  engrossed  by  the  sport  of 
hunting,  Angus  took  the  opportunity  to  look  after  some  of 
his  private  affairs  in  Lothian.  George  -Douglas  also  left 
Falkland  to  settle  the  terms  of  some  beneficial  leases  which 
he  was  to  obtain  from  the  bishop  of  Saint  Andrew's.  Archi- 
bald Douglas,  the  uncle  of  the  Earl  of  Angus,  left  the  court 
for  Dundee,  to  pursue,  it  was  said,  an  intrigue  with  a  para- 
mour; so  that  the  custody  of  the  king's  person  was  confided 
to  Douglas  of  Parkhead,  with  his  bodyguard  of  a  hundred 
gentlemen.  The  king  saw  the  opportunity  favorable  for  his 
escape.  He  appointed  a  particularly  solemn  hunting  match 
for  the  next  morning,  and  repeatedly  commanded  his  guard 
to  be  in  attendance  at  an  early  hour.  But  he  had  no  sooner 
retired  to  rest  than  he  assumed  the  dress  of  a  yeoman,  and 
getting  to  the  stables  unperceived,  mounted  with  two  attend- 
ants, whom  he  had  taken  into  his  confidence,  and  galloped 
to  Stirling.  The  governor  of  the  strong  castle,  which  com- 
mands that  town,  received  the  prince  with  great  joy,  and 
assured  him  of  his  personal  fidelity.  But  James's  apprehen- 
sions of  the  Douglases  were  still  so  great,  that,  fatigued  as 
he  was  with  his  long  and  midnight  ride,  he  would  not  go  to 
sleep  until  the  keys  of  the  castle  were  laid  beneath  his  pillow, 
to  insure  that  no  one  might  enter  without  his  knowledge  or 
consent. 

The  Douglases  early  on  the  morrow  perceived  the  flight 
of  their  royal  captive,  and  anticipated  the  downfall  of  the 
power  which  they  had  so  long  enjoyed.  They  agreed,  how- 
ever, to  ride  in  a  body  to  Stirling,  and  put  a  bold  face  upon 
the  matter.  But  when  the  king  heard  of  their  approach,  he 
caused  a  solemn  proclamation  to  be  made,  commanding  that 
neither  the  Earl  of  Angus  nor  any  of  his  kindred  should  ap- 


390  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

proach  within  six  miles  of  the  king's  person  under  the  pain 
of  high  treason. 

A  parliament  was  thereafter  assembled,  in  which  Angus 
and  his  whole  friends  and  dependents  were  summoned  to 
answer  for  various  abuses  of  the  royal  authority,  and  for 
keeping  the  king's  person  nearly  two  years  under  restraint. 
To  defend  themselves  was  impossible — to  appear  was  to  en- 
counter ruin;  the  Earl  of  Angus  and  his  followers,  there- 
fore, retreated  into  England,  being  secure  of  the  mediation 
of  Henry  VIII.  with  his  incensed  nephew.  Unfortunately, 
the  earl  did  not  deign  to  take  this  necessary  step  without 
offering  some  semblance  of  defending  himself  by  arms.  He 
garrisoned  his  castle  of  Tantallon,  and  taking  the  field  with 
a  gallant  body  of  cavalry,  seemed  disposed  to  bid  defiance  to 
his  youthful  king,  1528.  James  hastened  to  lay  siege  to  the 
castle ;  but  it  defied  his  forces.  He  was  obliged  to  retreat 
from  before  it  with  dishonor;  and  Angus,  attacking  the 
rear  of  the  royal  army,  added  to  the  disgrace  by  killing  one 
David  Falconer,  a  favorite  officer  of  James.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  Earl  of  Angus  showed  much  moderation,  and  for- 
bore to  seize  on  the  royal  train  of  artillery  which  were  in 
his  power.  James  remembered  with  deep  resentment  the 
wrongs  which  he  had  received,  and  felt  no  gratitude  for 
those  which  his  disobedient  subject  had  refrained  from  in- 
flicting. He  swore  in  his  anger  that  no  Douglas  should, 
while  he  lived  and  reigned,  find  favor  or  countenance  in 
Scotland.  It  was  pity  that  James  V.  should  have  in  this 
manner  bound  himself  up  from  exercising  his  prerogative  of 
pardon ;  for,  says  one  old  historian,  no  friend  of  the  Doug- 
lases, "I  cannot  fiift  that  the  Earl  of  Angus,  or  any  of  that 
kindred,  failed  to  the  king  in  any  part,  since,  although  they 
were  covetous,  greedy,  and  oppressive  of  their  neighbors,  yet 
were  they  ever  true,  kind,  and  serviceable  to  the  king  in  all 
his  affairs,  and  ofttimes  offered  their  persons  to  jeopardy  for 
his  sake." 

The  Earl  of  Angus,  seeing  the  king  so  decidedly  deter- 
mined against  him,  ceased  his  unavailing  resistance,  and 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  391 

retired  with  his  brother  and  kinsman.  Henry  VIII.  used 
much  intercession  in  the  earl's  favor;  but  it  was  not  until 
the  death  of  James  that  the  Douglases  were  restored  to 
their  native  country  of  Scotland. 

In  the  elevation  of  the  House  of  Angus  to  eminent  power, 
and  hi  its  fall,  there  was  something  which  resembled  the  rise 
and  declension  of  the  original  House  of  Douglas  in  the  reign 
of  James  II.  But  the  second  course  of  events  were  far  in- 
ferior in  consequence  to  those  of  the  earlier  revolution.  The 
power  which  the  Earl  of  Angus  possessed  flowed  from  his 
wielding  the  king's  authority  and  acting  in  the  royal  name. 
He  was,  it  is  true,  an  overgrown  minister,  who  controlled 
the  person  and  thwarted  the  inclinations  of  his  sovereign ; 
but  still  the  power  which  he  abused  was  that  of  a  minister 
only,  as  appeared  from  the  almost  unresisted  fall  of  the 
family  as  soon  as  they  were  deprived  of  the  custody  of  the 
king's  person.  The  last  Earl  of  Douglas,  on  the  contrary, 
had  bid  the  king  defiance  in  open  rebellion;  assembled  an 
army  as  large  as  that  of  James  II. ;  and  there  was  no 
guessing  to  which  side  victory  might  have  inclined,  had 
the  earl  given  the  monarch  battle  as  a  rival  for  his  throne. 

The  natural  inference  is,  that  since,  with  every  advan- 
tage of  a  minority  and  a  divided  cabinet,  with  as  much 
ambition  and  more  talents  than  Douglas,  Angus  had  neither 
been  able  to  found  his  power  so  deeply  or  to  raise  it  so  high, 
the  precautions  taken  by  James  II.  for  repealing  grants  of 
crown-lands,  for  prohibiting  or  limiting  the  erection  of  hered- 
itary jurisdictions,  and  otherwise  restricting  the  powers  of 
the  nobility,  had  taken  a  certain  though  slow  effect,  and 
that  James  V.  possessed  a  degree  of  authority  unknown  to 
the  Scottish  princes  before  these  restrictions  undermined  the 
power  of  the  aristocracy. 

The  slaughter  of  Flodden,  where  twelve  earls,  thirteen 
lords,  and  the  eldest  sons  of  five  noble  families  lay  on  the 
field,  tended  much  to  reduce  the  numbers  of  the  Scottish 
aristocracy,  and  increase  the  power  of  the  crown,  to  which 
many  of  their  honors  and  estates  reverted. 


302  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

It  is  owing  to  the  influence  of  these  joint  causes  that 
James  V.  assumed  a  degree  of  self-agency,  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  Scottish  nobles,  the  monarch  was  hardly  en- 
titled to;  that,  unlike  his  father  James  IV.,  he  did  not  seem 
to  court  their  regard  or  employ  their  service,  but  sought  his 
companions  among  the  gentry,  and  his  counsellors  among 
the  clergy,  without,  for  a  length  of  time,  experiencing  any 
inconvenience  from  the  discontent  of  those  who  claimed  by 
birth  the  right  to  share  his  sports  and  participate  in  the 
exercise  of  his  power. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  393 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

James  V.  chastises  the  Borders — Introduces  Cultivation  and  good 
Order — Institutes  the  College  of  Justice — Short  War  with  Eng- 
land— Friendship  restored — James  temporizes  with  Henry — 
Marries  Magdalen  of  France — Her  early  Death — James  weds 
Mary  of  Guise — Sentence  of  Lady  Glamis— Burning  of  several 
Heretics — Sadler's  Embassy — James's  wise  Government — His 
Faults — He  is  of  a  severe  Temper,  and  addicted  to  Favoritism — 
His  Expedition  to  the  Scottish  Isles — Character  of  Sir  James 
Hamilton  of  Draphane,  and  his  Execution — Death  of  the  two 
infant  Sons  of  James — Considered  as  Ominous — Severe  Laws 
against  Heresy — Critical  Position  of  James  on  the  approaching 
War  between  France  and  England — He  offends  Henry  by  dis- 
appointing him  at  the  proposed  Interview — War  with  England 
— Battle  of  Haddon  Rig — The  Scottish  Nobles  at  Fala  Muir  re- 
fuse to  advance  with  the  King — Incursion  on  the  West  Border 
— Rout  of  Soiway  Moss — James  V.  dies  of  a  Broken  Heart 

JAMES  V.  having,  as  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter, 
obtained  the  unlimited  exercise  of  the  royal  author- 
ity, became  desirous  of  reducing  to  order  the  formi- 
dable border  men,  who,  under  the  Earl  of  Angus,  had  been 
permitted  to  indulge  themselves  uncontrolled  in  all  kinds  of 
violence.  The  king  swept  through  the  frontiers  with  a  fly- 
ing army,  reducing  the  castles,  and  seizing  upon  the  persons 
of  those  haughty  chieftains,  many  of  whom  had  no  concep- 
tion that  the  irregularities  of  which  they  and  their  people 
had  been  guilty  were  of  a  character  to  deserve  the  capital 
punishment  of  death,  which  was  unsparingly  executed  upon 
them.  John  Armstrong  of  Gilnockie,  Adam  Scott  of  Tushie- 
law,  called  the  King  of  the  Border,  and  Piers  Cockburn  of 
Henderland,  were  among  the  border  chiefs  who  perished  on 
this  memorable  occasion.  Having  thus  succeeded  in  quell- 
ing the  authors  of  foreign  strife  and  domestic  disorder  so 
effectually  as  to  make  "the  bush  of  rushes  keep  the  cow," 


394  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

James  V.  proceeded  to  occupy  the  crown  lands,  in  the  coun- 
tries which  had  been  so  lately  disturbed,  with  flocks  and 
herds,  the  produce  of  which  formed  a  large  addition  to  his 
royal  revenue  on  the  borders. 

After  this  signal  infliction  of  punishment,  it  is  boasted 
by  a  contemporary  historian  that  the  king  had  thirty  thou- 
sand sheep  pasturing  in  Ettricke  Forest,  and  that  his  herds- 
man gave  him  as  good  an  account  of  the  produce,  although 
in  that  disorderly  district,  as  if  they  had  gone  within  the 
bounds  of  Fife.  Scotland  seems  to  have  enjoyed  several 
years  of  such  tranquillity  as  seldom  occurs  in  the  history  of 
that  distracted  country.  James,  resenting  the  recollections 
of  his  sufferings  under  the  tutelage  of  Angus,  did  not  greatly 
use  the  services  of  his  nobles,  being  disgusted  with  their  ig- 
norance and  arrogance.  He  employed  the  talents  of  the 
clergy  more  freely;  and  they  thus  attained  an  influence 
over  his  mind  which  deterred  him  from  joining  the  party 
of  the  reformers,  to  which  he  had  originally  shown  some 
inclination. 

In  the  year  1531,  James  V.  gave  to  his  country  of  Scot- 
land the  institution  of  the  supreme  court  of  council  and  ses- 
sion, which  was  framed  in  imitation  of  the  parliament  of 
Paris.  Hitherto  justice  had  been  administered  by  standing 
committees  of  parliament,  by  whom  the  duty  was  irregu- 
larly and  sometimes  negligently  discharged.  These  were 
now  to  give  place  to  a  court  of  professional  persons,  chosen 
with  reference  to  their  capacity  for  the  high  office,  and  hav- 
ing no  occupation  which  might  divert  them  from  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  The  court  possessed  the  supreme 
power  of  decision  in  all  civil  cases,  and  subsists  to  this  day 
under  the  various  alterations  and  improvements  which  the 
experience  of  three  centuries  has  suggested.  The  number 
of  the  judges  of  the  new  court  of  session  was  fifteen,  one 
half  of  them  being  laymen,  and  the  others  clergymen.  The 
churchmen  were  taxed  to  defray  the  expense  of  the  new 
establishment. 

In  1533,  a  short  and  unimportant  war  broke  out  with 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  395 

England.  It  was  signalized  only  -by  mutual  inroads  on  the 
frontiers,  and  ended  by  a  peace  between  the  royal  uncle  and 
nephew ;  after  which  James  received  from  Henry  the  Order 
of  the  Garter.  At  this  period  Henry  VIII. ,  from  motives 
well  known  hi  history,  had  renounced  the  papal  sway,  and 
became  particularly  anxious  to  induce  his  nephew  to  take  a 
similar  step.  It  is  even  said  that,  to  purchase  his  compli- 
ance, Henry  would  have  been  contented  that  James  should 
become  the  husband  of  his  eldest  daughter  Mary,  with  other 
high  advantages.  He  was  pressing  by  his  letters  and  mes- 
sengers to  have  a  personal  interview  appointed  with  his 
nephew,  over  whom  he  no  doubt  hoped  to  exercise  that  su- 
periority which  the  powerful  possesses  over  the  compara- 
tively weak  sovereign,  the  rich  over  the  poor,  the  aged  over 
the  young,  and,  as  Henry  doubtless  supposed,  the  wise  over 
the  less  strong-minded.  But  James,  though  desirous  to  be 
on  good  terms  with  his  uncle,  could  not  resolve  upon,imitat- 
ing  him  in  his  scheme  of  throwing  off  the  dominion  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  He  had,  indeed,  listened  with  a  smile  to 
those  lighter  pieces  of  satire  which  reflected  upon  the  per- 
sonal character  of  the  priests ;  a  subject  on  which  the  Catho- 
lic Church  has  never  manifested  great  irritability.  But  he 
was  not  prepared  to  resign  any  part  of  those  doctrines  which 
had  been  interwoven  with  his  earliest  ideas.  The  clergy, 
who  were  so  useful  to  him  in  the  course  of  his  administra- 
tion, had  undoubtedly  considerable  influence  hi  deterring 
him  from  following  the  courses  of  Henry.  James  also, 
though  far  from  being  wealthy,  was  so  frugal  as  not  to 
require  for  the  support  of  his  revenue  the  desperate  measure 
of  confiscating  the  church  property.  Finally,  he  felt  that 
by  joining  with  Henry  in  a  step  which  all  the  princes  of 
Europe  held  as  impious  and  heretical,  he  must  break  off  his 
friendly  connection  with  France  and  every  other  power,  to 
place  himself  wholly  hi  the  hands  of  the  most  haughty  and 
imperious  monarch  then  living.  He  procrastinated,  there- 
fore, and  evaded  the  proposal  for  a  meeting,  well  knowing 
that  if  such  an  appointment  did  not  produce  all  the  effects 


396  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

which  Henry  desired  and  expected,  it  must  necessarily  de- 
stroy his  amicable  relations  with  England.  These  ties  James 
desired  to  preserve  in  their  present  state,  but  did  not  wish  to 
draw  them  closer. 

The  same  reasons  prevented  the  king  from  prosecuting 
the  proposed  match  with  the  Princess  Mary.  Meantime  his 
people  anxiously  desired  that  he  should  marry.  Years  rolled 
on,  and  James,  the  last  of  his  line,  was  still  single.  His  sub- 
jects were  the  more  anxious  on  this  point,  as  he  often  hazarded 
his  person  in  private  and  nocturnal  adventures,  which  he  un- 
dertook sometimes  to  further  the  purposes  of  justice,  and  on 
other  occasions  from  the  love  of  enterprise  and  intrigue.  A 
blow  in  a  midnight  brawl  might  have  again  reduced  Scot- 
land to  the  miserable  condition  of  a  people  with  whom  the 
succession  to  the  crown  is  disputed. 

At  length  a  treaty  of  marriage  was  concluded  between 
the  king  of  Scotland  and  Marie  de  Bourbon,  a  daughter  of 
the  Duke  of  Vendome,  in  1536.  James  undertook  a  journey 
to  France  to  fetch  home  his  betrothed  bride.  But  when  he 
arrived  in  that  kingdom  he  was  dissatisfied  with  the  choice 
of  his  ambassador,  and  Magdalen,  the  princess  of  France, 
was  substituted  for  Marie  de  Bourbon.  They  were  married 
in  great  splendor  on  the  1st  of  January,  and  embarked  in 
the  beginning  of  May  for  the  port  of  Leith,  in  Scotland, 
where  they  were  received  with  great  rejoicings,  which  with- 
in forty  days  were  to  be  turned  into  the  signs  of  mourning, 
July  7,  1537.  Magdalen,  the  young  queen  of  Scotland,  car- 
ried in  her  constitution  the  seeds  of  a  hectic  fever,  which, 
within  that  brief  space,  removed  her  from  her  new  kingdom 
and  royal  bridegroom.  Her  vacant  place  on  the  throne  was 
soon  afterward  filled  by  Mary  of  Guise,  the  most  celebrated 
queen  of  Scotland,  excepting  her  daughter  Mary  Stewart, 
still  more  famed  for  beauty  and  misfortune.  This  lady  bore 
to  her  husband  two  healthy  male  children,  both  of  whom  died 
within  a  few  days  of  each  other  during  James's  lifetime. 
Mary,  the  third  offspring  of  the  marriage,  beheld  the  light 
for  the  first  time  at  the  period  of  her  father's  death,  1541. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  397 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  reign  the  banished  Doug- 
lases, from  their  place  of  exile  in  England,  intrigued  among 
the  Scottish  nobility,  who  saw  with  displeasure  that  the  king 
preferred  the  assistance  of  the  churchmen  to  theirs  in  the 
management  of  his  political  affairs.  During  the  life  of 
James  Beaton,  archbishop  of  Glasgow,  the  king  used  his 
approved  talents  hi  the  administration ;  and  at  his  death  in 
1539  he  had  caDed  to  his  councils  his  nephew  David  Beaton, 
afterward  cardinal  and  primate  of  Scotland.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  peculiarly  connected  with  the  following 
judicial  proceedings:  the  son  of  Lord  Forbes  was  accused 
of  treason  by  the  Earl  of  Huntley,  tried  by  the  court  of 
justiciary,  and  suffered  death.  In  like  manner  Jane  Doug- 
las, the  sister  of  Angus,  widow  of  the  late  Lord  Glamis, 
mother  of  the  youth  who  bore  the  title  at  the  time,  and  wife 
of  Archibald  Campbell  of  Kepneith,  was,  with  her  present 
husband,  her  son,  and  certain  accomplices,  accused  of  and 
tried  for  an  attempt  to  hasten  the  king's  death  by  the  imag- 
inary crime  of  witchcraft.  For  this  offence  Lady  Glamis 
suffered  death  at  the  stake,  on  the  castle  hill  of  Edinburgh. 
She  was  much  pitied  on  account  of  her  noble  birth,  her  dis- 
tinguished grace  and  beauty,  and  the  courage  with  which 
she  endured  her  cruel  punishment.  The  Scottish  historians 
throw  reflections  upon  James  for  giving  vent  to  his  resent- 
ment against  the  Douglases  in  the  punishment  of  this  lady: 
but  her  crimes  appear  to  have  been  fully  proved;  and  al- 
though the  idea  of  taking  away  the  life  of  others  by  acts  of 
sorcery  be  now  exploded,  yet  it  is  well  known  that  in  the 
Dark  Ages  the  effect  of  the  unhallowed  rites  was  often  ac- 
celerated by  the  administration  of  poison;  not  to  mention 
that  those  who  engaged  in  such  a  conspiracy  were  morally, 
though  not  actually,  guilty  of  the  crime  of  murder.  The 
punishment  of  Lady  Glamis  by  fire  was  cruel,  doubtless; 
but  the  cruelty  was  that  of  the  age,  not  of  the  sovereign. 
Her  husband  Campbell  was  killed  by  a  fall  in  attempting 
an  escape  from  the  castle  of  Edinburgh  in  which  he  was  a 
prisoner. 


398  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

The  same  horrible  mode  of  punishment  undergone  by 
Lady  Glamis  was,  during  James's  reign,  unsparingly  ap- 
plied to  the  restraint  of  heresy.  In  the  year  1528  a  young 
man  of  good  birth,  named  Patrick  Hamilton,  the  first  person 
who  introduced  the  doctrines  of  Luther's  reformation  into 
Scotland,  sealed  them  by  his  violent  death,  which  took  place 
at  St.  Andrew's.  The  king,  being  then  under  the  tutelage 
of  the  Douglases,  cannot  be  charged  with  this  act  of  cruelty ; 
but  the  execution  of  seven  persons,  in  the  year  1539,  attested 
his  assent  to  these  bloody  and  impolitic  inflictions.  It  is, 
however,  certain  that,  in  permitting  the  established  laws  of 
the  realm  to  have  their  course,  James  by  no  means  appeared 
satisfied  either  with  the  frequent  repetition  of  such  exhibi- 
tions, or  with  the  conduct  of  the  churchmen  themselves. 
He  evinced  in  several  particulars  a  bias  favorable  to  the 
reformed  doctrines;  and  his  uncle  Henry  VIII.,  confiding 
in  these  hopeful  indications,  continued  to  entertain  consid- 
erable hopes  of  drawing  over  his  nephew  to  follow  his  own 
example. 

Sir  Ralph  Sadler,  a  statesman  of  great  talent,  and  no 
stranger  to  Scotland,  was  despatched  with  a  present  of  some 
horses  and  the  delicate  task  of  prevailing  on  James  to  dis- 
miss such  of  his  ministers  as  were  Catholic  priests,  especially 
Cardinal  David  Beaton,  archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's,  and  of 
exhorting  him  at  the  same  time  to  seize  on  the  property  of 
the  Church,  and  to  reform  the  morals  of  the  churchmen  by 
severe  correction.  The  old  proposal  of  a  personal  conference 
was  again  renewed.  King  James  answered  with  mildness 
to  the  urgency  of  his  uncle.  He  declared  he  would  reform 
the  abuses  of  the  Church,  but  that  he  could  not  justly  or 
conscientiously  make  these  a  pretext  for  seizing  on  its  prop- 
erty, especially  since  the  churchmen  were  willing  to  supply 
him  with  such  sums  of  money  as  he  from  time  to  time  re- 
quired. The  candor  of  Sadler  owned  to  his  master  thc.t  the 
king  of  Scotland  was  obliged  to  make  use  of  the  clergy  in 
the  public  service,  owing  to  the  ignorance  and  incapacity 
of  his  nobility. 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  399 

During  all  these  transactions  the  personal  character  of 
James  V.  appears  in  a  favorable  light.  He  did  not  indeed 
escape  the  charge  of  severity  usually  brought  against  princes 
who  endeavor  to  restore  the  current  of  justice  to  its  proper 
channel  after  it  has  been  for  some  time  interrupted.  But 
his  reign  was  distinguished  by  acts  of  personal  intrepidity 
on  the  part  of  the  sovereign,  as  well  as  by  an  economical 
and  sage  management  of  the  revenues  of  the  kingdom. 
James  encouraged  fisheries,  wrought  mines,  cultivated 
waste  lands,  and  understood  and  protected  commerce. 
The  palaces  which  he  built  are  in  a  beautiful  though 
singular  style  of  architecture;  and  the  productions  of  his 
mint,  particularly  that  called  the  bonnet-piece,  because  it 
bears  James's  head  surmounted  by  the  national  cap,  is  the 
most  elegant  specimen  of  gold  coinage  which  the  age  affords. 
The  sculptor  of  the  die  was  probably  some  foreign  medallist 
whom  James  had  induced  to  settle  in  Scotland,  and  who  died 
young.  Had  so  excellent  an  artist  lived  for  any  considerable 
period  he  must  have  distinguished  himself. 

James,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  was  liberal  to  foreign 
mechanics,  by  whose  aid  he  hoped  to  encourage  the  arts 
among  his  ignorant  people.  The  court  of  Scotland  was  gay, 
and  filled  with  persons  of  accomplishment.  Himself  a  poet, 
the  king  gave  all  liberal  indulgence  to  the  Muses,  and  does 
not  seem  to  have  resented  the  shafts  of  satire  which  were 
sometimes  aimed  against  the  royal  gallantries  or  the  royal 
parsimony. 

With  many  virtues,  James  V.  displayed  few  faults,  but 
these  were  of  a  fatal  character.  We  cannot  reckon  among 
them  his  unwillingness  to  receive  a  form  of  faith  unknown 
to  his  fathers;  but  his  rejection  of  the  Reformation  may  be 
safely  accounted  among  his  misfortunes.  The  license  which 
he  gave  to  the  vindictive  persecution  of  the  Protestants  seems 
to  have  originated  in  that  personal  severity  of  temper  already 
noticed.  His  inexorable  hatred  of  the  Douglases  partakes  of 
the  same  character.  No  recollection  of  early  familiarity,  no 
degree  of  personal  merit,  would  induce  him  to  extend  any 


favor  to  an  individual  of  that  detested  name.  His  dislike 
to  or  contempt  for  his  nobility  led  to  his  admitting  favorites 
into  his  society,  on  whom  his  countenance  was  too  exclusively 
conferred.  Among  these  minions,  the  most  distinguished  was 
Oliver  Sinclair,  a  youth  of  noble  descent,  but  to  whom  the 
king  too  indiscriminately  extended  the  favor  which  he  with- 
held from  men  of  eminent  rank. 

In  the  year  1540  James  V.  undertook  an  expedition  truly 
worthy  of  a  patriotic  sovereign,  making,  with  a  strong  fleet 
and  a  sufficient  body  of  troops,  a  circumnavigation  of  his 
whole  realm  of  Scotland,  acquainting  himself  with  the  vari- 
ous islands,  harbors,  capes,  currents,  and  tides.  In  the 
Hebrides  he  took  hostages  from  the  most  turbulent  chiefs 
for  the  quiet  behavior  of  their  clans,  which  bore  in  general 
the  same  denominations  which  thejT  have  at  this  day,  as 
M' Donalds,  M'Leods,  M' Leans,  M'Kenzies,  and  others.  In 
this  expedition  the  king  showed  to  the  most  remote  part 
of  his  dominions  the  presence  of  their  sovereign  in  a  position 
both  willing  and  able  to  support  the  dignity  of  the  crown 
and  the  due  administration  of  justice,  striking  a  salutary 
terror  into  those  heads  of  clans  who  were  unwilling  to  ac- 
knowledge a  higher  authority  than  their  own.  James  sailed 
from  Leith  on  this  praiseworthy  expedition  about  the  22d 
May,  and  landed  at  Dumbarton  in  the  course  of  July,  1540, 
after  a  voyage  which,  in  that  early  state  of  navigation,  was 
not  without  its  dangers. 

We  have  repeatedly  mentioned  Sir  James  Hamilton  as  a 
man  of  determined  courage,  but  of  a  blood-thirsty  and  re- 
morseless disposition.  He  was  a  base-born  son  of  the  Earl 
of  Arran,  the  same  whose  violence  precipitated  the  skirmish 
called  Cleanse  the  Causeway,  and  who  slew  the  Earl  of  Len- 
nox in  cold  blood  after  the  battle,  near  Kirkliston,  between 
Angus  and  his  father.  This  man,  usually  called  the  Bastard 
jof  Arran,  and  sometimes  Lord  Evandale,  at  one  time  stood 
high  in  the  favor  of  James  V. ,  and  obtained  the  estates  of 
Draphane,  Finnart,  and  others.  He  owed  this  distinction 
partly  perhaps  to  his  well-known  character  for  determined 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  401 

courage,  partly  to  a  taste  for  architecture  by  which  he  was 
distinguished.  The  king  seems  to  have  used  his  talents  in 
the  rebuilding  and  ornamenting  the  palaces  of  Linlithgow, 
Stirling,  and  Falkland,  in  each  of  which  may  be  remarked 
an  elegant  and  highly  ornamented  style  of  architecture, 
being  a  mixture  of  the  Gothic  and  Classical  styles,  like  that 
which  predominated  in  England  in  Elizabeth's  reign.  But 
having  lost  the  king's  favor  when  he  advanced  in  years,  Sir 
James  Hamilton  was  accused  of  having  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy for  restoring  the  Douglases  (though  his  own  heredi- 
tary enemies)  by  means  of  a  plot  on  the  king's  life.  For 
this  he  was  convicted,  and  suffered  death  at  Edinburgh, 
August  26,  1546.  His  accuser  was  a  brother  of  Patrick 
Hamilton,  the  protomartyr.  It  is  said  Sir  James  Hamilton 
had  been  a  violent  persecutor  of  the  Protestant  faith. 

In  1541  James  met  with  a  great  and  poignant  family 
affliction.  The  two  male  infants,  borne  to  him  by  his  wife 
Mary  of  Guise,  were  both  cut  off  by  sudden  illness  within 
a  few  days  of  each  other.  The  Protestants  recorded  this 
as  a  judgment  against  the  king  for  permitting  the  perse- 
cution of  their  faith,  and  their  writers  record  an  ominous 
dream  of  the  king,  in  which  the  spectre  of  Sir  James  Ham- 
ilton appeared  to  James  in  the  visions  of  the  night,  and 
striking  off  his  two  arms  while  he  upbraided  him  with  his 
cruelty,  announced  that  he  would  speedily  return  and  take 
his  head.  The  superstition  of  Mary  of  Guise,  a  devoted 
daughter  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  took  a  different  direction ; 
and  the  king  might  perhaps  agree  with  her  and  the  priests 
in  concluding  that  their  family  calamity  arose  from  the 
vengeance  of  Heaven  expressed  against  him  for  his  slowness 
in  extirpating  heresy.  At  least,  from  the  tenor  of  his  meas- 
ures at  this  time,  such  seems  to  have  been  his  own  interpre- 
tation of  this  severe  visitation. 

The  statute-book  at  this  period  contains  various  severe 
denunciations  against  heresy.  To  argue  against  the  pope's 
authority  is  declared  punishable  with  death,  and  all  discus- 
sion on  the  subject  of  religion  is  as  far  as  possible  prohibited. 


402  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

Suspected  heretics  are  declared  incapable  of  exercising  any 
office;  nay,  such  as  may  even  have  abjured  their  errors  of 
faith  are  still  to  remain  excluded  from  conversation  with 
Catholics.  Fugitives  for  their  religious  opinions  are  held 
as  condemned;  all  correspondence  with  them  is  prohibited, 
and  rewards  are  offered  for  their  discovery.  These  severe 
penal  enactments  sufficiently  show  the  sense  of  Cardinal 
Beaton,  their  author,  that  the  Protestant  opinions  were  pene- 
trating deeply  into  Scotland,  and  could  in  his  opinion  only 
be  eradicated  by  the  most  active  measures.  But  in  propor- 
tion as  the  severity  increased,  the  prohibited  doctrines  seemed 
to  gain  ground ;  and  the  Scottish  clergymen  saw  no  remedy 
except  in  the  dangerous  expedient  of  engaging  James  V.  in 
a  war  with  England,  the  monarch  of  which  kingdom  had  led 
the  way  in  the  great  northern  schism  of  the  Church. 

The  situation  of  James  V.  now  became  extremely  critical. 
Whatever  might  be  the  king's  own  moderation,  there  seemed 
almost  an  impossibility  of  his  remaining  neutral  while  France 
and  England  were  hastening  to  a  rupture;  and  there  were 
weighty  reasons  for  dreading  the  consequences,  whichever 
party  he  might  embrace.  If  he  became  the  close  and  in- 
separable ally  of  his  uncle,  he  must  comply  with  that  impet- 
uous prince  in  all  his  humors,  alter  the  religious  constitution 
of  his  country  after  the  example  of  England,  confiscate  the 
possessions  of  the  Church,  to  the  prejudice  of  his  own  ideas 
of  religion  and  justice,  and  discharge  Beaton  and  other 
counsellors  by  whose  experienced  talents  he  had  hitherto 
conducted  his  administration.  He  felt  also  that  these  sacri- 
fices, which  must  necessarily  cost  him  the  esteem  and  the 
alliance  both  of  France  and  of  Germany,  would  be  made  for 
the  chance  of  securing  the  doubtful  friendship  of  an  uncle 
who,  amid  all  his  professions  of  friendship,  had  constantly 
maintained  within  his  kingdom  the  exiled  family  of  Douglas, 
whom  James  not  only  peculiarly  hated,  but  whom,  from 
their  extensive  connections  in  Scotland,  he  had  some  reason 
to  dread. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  refuse  Henry's  proffers  of  friend- 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  403 

ship  must  expose  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  to  a  misfortune 
similar  to  that  of  his  father  at  Flodden;  or,  if  he  escaped 
such  an  overwhelming  calamity,  must  give  him  still  to  fear 
the  consequences  of  a  war  for  which  the  disaffection  of  his 
nobles  rendered  him,  notwithstanding  all  his  own  efforts  to 
the  contrary,  very  much  unprepared.  In  its  course  it  was 
likely  to  be  the  occasion  of  forming,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  English  monarch,  a  strong  faction  of  malcontents 
in  Scotland,  partly  united  by  the  new  views  of  religion 
which  had  been  so  generally  adopted,  and  partly  by  alli- 
ance or  intimacy  on  the  part  of  some  Scottish  nobles,  with 
Angus  and  the  banished  Douglases. 

The  king  was  warmly  urged  by  a  new  embassy  from 
Henry  VIII.  to  come  to  a  decisive  conclusion  on  these  diffi- 
cult points,  when,  worn  out  by  importunity,  he  gave  a  doubt- 
ful promise,  that,  if  the  affairs  of  his  kingdom  permitted,  he 
would  meet  his  uncle  at  York  for  the  purpose  of  arranging 
an  amicable  settlement.  Henry,  who  thought  highly  of  his 
own  arts  of  eloquence  and  persuasion,  and  who  appears  to 
have  founded  extravagant  hopes  on  the  influence  which 
he  might  expect  to  gain  by  this  personal  interview,  repaired 
to  York,  and  remained  there  for  six  days,  expecting  the 
arrival  of  King  James.  The  king  of  Scotland,  however, 
aware  that  to  meet  Henry  without  being  prepared  to  con- 
cede to  him  everything  which  he  desired  would  only  pre- 
cipitate a  rupture,  excused  himself  for  not  attending  upon 
the  conference;  and  Henry  returned  to  London,  personally 
offended  with  James,  and  eagerly  desirous  of  revenge.  The 
chastisement  of  the  king  of  Scotland  became  now  as  favorite 
an  object  with  Henry  as  the  conversion  of  James  to  his  own 
opinions  on  religion  and  politics  had  previously  been. 

At  length,  in  1542,  after  a  variety  of  petty  incursions, 
the  war  broke  out  openly,  and  Sir  Robert  Bowes,  with  the 
banished  Douglases,  entered  Scotland  at  the  head  of  three 
thousand  cavalry.  They  were  encountered  near  Haddon  Rig 
by  the  Earl  of  Huntley,  to  whom  James  had  intrusted  the 
defence  of  the  border.  The  English  were  defeated,  and  left 


404  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

their  general  and  many  inferior  leaders  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  their  enemies.  Angus  himself  would  have  shared 
the  same  fate,  but  he  rid  himself  of  the  knight  who  laid 
hands  on  him  by  employing  his  dagger. 

James  was  highly  encouraged  by  this  fortunate  com- 
mencement of  the  campaign,  and  made  a  donation  of  the 
lands  of  Hirsel  to  Sir  Andrew  Ker  of  Littledean,  who 
brought  him  the  first  news  of  the  victory.  But  he  was 
now  doomed  to  find  that  he  had  made  shipwreck  of  his 
popularity  in  lending  his  countenance  to  the  severities 
against  the  heretics,  as  they  were  termed,  and  in  exclud- 
ing from  his  favor  the  nobility  of  the  kingdom.  The  pres- 
ence of  an  English  army  under  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  which, 
entering  the  Scottish  frontier,  had  burned  the  towns  of 
Kelso  and  Roxburgh  and  nearly  twenty  villages,  compelled 
him  to  summon  an  army  to  repel  the  invasion. 

The  Scottish  king,  therefore,  assembled  thirty  thousand 
men,  under  their  various  feudal  leaders,  upon  the  Borough 
Moor,  and  marched  from  thence  against  the  enemy.  But 
as  the  Scottish  army  halted  at  Fala  Muir,  they  received 
information  that  the  English  had  retired  to  Berwick,  and 
dismissed  the  greater  part  of  their  forces. 

The  Scottish  nobles,  on  receiving  this  intelligence,  united 
in  declaring  that  the  occasion  of  their  service  in  arms  was 
ended,  signified  their  intention  to  attend  the  host  no  longer, 
and  prepared  to  depart  with  their  respective  followers.  The 
king  was  deeply  grieved  and  irritated  by  this  unexpected 
resolution.  Henry  had  insulted  him  by  the  threat  that  he 
had  still  the  same  rod  in  keeping  which  had  chastised  his 
father.  By  that  rod  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  was  intimated, 
who,  while  yet  Earl  of  Surrey,  commanded  at  Flodden, 
where  James  IV.  fell.  His  son  and  successor  highly  re- 
sented this  reference  to  his  father's  misfortunes;  and  now, 
when  the  duke  was  within  a  few  miles'  distance  of  him,  and 
he  himself  at  the  head  of  an  army  numerous  enough  to  sec- 
ond his  desire  of  revenge,  it  was  with  peculiar  pain  that  he 
saw  himself  deserted  by  his  nobility,  when  he  most  desired 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  405 

their  cordial  support.  There  was,  however,  no  remedy:  in 
a  Scottish  feudal  camp  the  aristocracy  were  omnipotent,  the 
king's  power  merely  nominal ;  and  to  have  urged  the  dispute 
to  an  open  rupture  would  only  have  incurred  the  risk  of 
reviving  the  scene  of  Lauder  Bridge  in  James  III.  ?s  time. 
For  the  leaders  began  to  whisper  to  each  other  that  rather 
than  indulge  the  king's  humor  for  an  impolitic  war,  they 
would  hang  up  the  evil  counsellors  who  had  suggested  the 
idea  to  him.  Rewarding,  therefore,  with  heraldic  honors 
John  Scott  of  Thirlestane, '  the  only  baron  in  that  large 
host  who  offered  to  follow  his  banner,  James  dismissed  his 
refractory  army,  when  it  was  about  to  dismiss  itself,  and 
returned  so  deeply  moved  with  shame  and  indignation  that 
he  not  only  lost  his  spirits,  but  his  health  was  obviously 
affected. 

The  royal  counsellors  endeavored  to  find  a  remedy  for 
James's  wounded  feelings  by  appointing  another  attempt 
to  be  made  against  England  on  the  western  border,  the  suc- 
cess of  which  might,  they  hoped,  obliterate  the  recollection 
of  the  mutiny  at  Fala.  The  Lord  Maxwell  was  appointed 
to  command  ten  thousand  men;  but  though  Maxwell  was 
himself  a  counsellor  and  favorite  of  the  king,  they  were 
injudiciously  composed  of  the  followers  of  Cassilis,  Glen- 
cairn,  and  other  Westland  nobles,  among  whom  the  Refor- 
mation had  made  considerable  progress,  and  who  were  pro- 
portionably  disgusted  with  the  war,  which  they  regarded  as 
undertaken  at  the  instigation  and  to  serve  the  interest  of  the 
papal  clergy.  This  may  in  part  account  for  the  extraordinary 
scene  which  followed. 

In  1542  Maxwell's  army  had  assembled,  and  advanced 
as  far  as  the  western  border,  when  it  was  drawn  up  in  order, 
and  Oliver  Sinclair  was  raised  on  a  buckler  for  the  purpose 
of  reading  the  commission  intrusting  Lord  Maxwell  with  the 
command  of  the  army.  The  ill-timed  introduction  of  this 

1  He  added  the  royal  tressure  to  his  arras,  and  assigned  for  his  creak 
a  bundle  of  spears  with  the  motto  "Ready,  aye  ready."  Lord  Napier  is 
the  representative  of  this  family. 


406  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

unpopular  minion  in  a  situation  and  duty  so  ostensible  occa- 
sioned a  belief  that  the  commission  which  he  read  was  in 
his  own  favor;  and  as  this  rumor  gained  ground  a  general 
confusion  prevailed,  and  many,  who  did  not  choose  to  fight 
under  the  command  of  so  unpopular  a  general,  began  to 
leave  their  ranks  and  return  homeward.  Dacres  and  Mus- 
grave,  two  chiefs  of  the  English  borderers,  who  had  come 
to  watch  the  motions  of  the  Scottish  army,  were  witnesses 
of  the  strange  and  apparently  causeless  scene  of  confusion 
which  it  exhibited.  Without  knowing  the  cause,  they  took 
advantage  of  the  effect,  and  charged  with  a  degree  of  cour- 
age and  determination  which  changed  the  confusion  of  the 
enemy  into  flight,  and  in  many  cases  into  surrender;  for  a 
great  number  of  the  chiefs  and  nobles  chose  rather  to  become 
the  prisoners  of  the  English  leaders  than  to  escape  to  their 
own  country  and  meet  the  displeasure  of  their  offended  mon- 
arch. The  whole  Scottish  force  dispersed  without  stroke  of 
sword,  and  the  victors  made  many  prisoners. 

King  James  had  advanced  to  the  border,  that  he  might 
earlier  receive  intelligence  from  the  army.  But  when  he 
learned  the  news  of  a  rout  so  dishonorable  as  that  of  Sol  way, 
the  honor  of  his  kingdom  and  the  reputation  of  his  arms 
were,  he  thought,  utterly  and  irredeemably  lost,  and  his 
proud  spirit  refused  to  survive  the  humiliation.  He  re- 
moved from  the  border  to  Edinburgh,  and  from  thence 
to  Falkland,  his  deep  melancholy  still  increasing  and  mix- 
ing itself  with  the  secret  springs  of  life.  At  length  his 
powers  of  digestion  totally  failed.  It  was  in  this  discon- 
solate condition  that  a  messenger,  who  came  to  acquaint 
James  V.  that  his  queen,  then  at  Linlithgow,  was  delivered 
of  a  daughter,  found  him  to  whom  he  brought  the  news. 
"Is  it  so?"  said  the  expiring  monarch,  reflecting  on  the 
alliance  which  had  placed  the  Stewart  family  on  the  throne; 
"then  God's  will  be  done.  It  came  with  a  lass,  and  will  go 
with  a  lass."  With  these  words,  presaging  the  extinction 
of  his  house,  he  made  a  signal  of  adieu  to  his  followers  and 
courtiers,  and  expired,  December  14,  1542. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  40V 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Proposed  Marriage  between  Mary  of  Scotland  and  Edward,  Prince 
of  Wales — The  Earl  of  Arran  Regent — An  English  Party  formed 
— Henry  VIII. 's  Demands — Successful  Intrigues  of  Cardinal 
Beaton — The  Treaty  with  England  broken — Incursions  of  the 
English — Battle  of  Ancram  Moor — Martyrdom  of  Wisheart — 
Murder  of  Cardinal  Beaton — Battle  of  Pinkie — Treaty  of  Mar- 
riage between  Mary  and  the  Dauphin  of  France — She  is  sent 
over  into  France — Arran  is  induced  to  resign  the  Government, 
and  the  Queen-Mother  is  declared  Regent — Peace  with  England 
— The  Queen-Regent's  Partiality  for  France — Her  Dissensions 
with  the  Scottish  Nobles — Her  Proposal  for  a  standing  Army  is 
rejected — Progress  of  the  Protestant  Doctrines — Hamilton, 
Archbishop  of  St.  Andrew's — Claim  of  Queen  Mury  to  the 
Crown  of  England — Bold  Answer  of  the  Protestants  to  a  Cita- 
tion of  the  Queen-Regent — Death  of  five  Commissioners  sent  to 
France — The  Queen-Regent  resolves  to  subdue  the  Protestants, 
who  take  Arms — Treaties  of  Accommodation  are  repeatedly 
broken — The  Reformers  destroy  the  Monastic  Buildings — The 
Treaty  of  Perth  violated,  and  the  Protestants  take  Arms — They 
advance  to  Edinburgh — The  Queen-Regent  fortifies  Leith — The 
Lords  of  the  Congregation  promulgate  a  Resolution  that  she 
has  forfeited  her  Office  of  Regent 

THUS  was  Scotland,  by  the  death  of  an  accomplished 
king,  having  only  attained  his  thirty-first  year,  re- 
duced  once   more   to  one  of  those  long  minorities 
which  are  the  bane  of  her  history,  and  which,  in  the  pres- 
ent case,  brought  even  more  than  the  usual  amount  of 
misfortune. 

The  Scots,  involved  in  a  national  war  which  had  no  na- 
tional object,  were,  upon  the  decease  of  James  V.,  willingly 
disposed  to  address  Henry  in  a  pacific  tone,  in  which  they 
reminded  hirp  that  they  now  spoke  in  behalf  of  their  infant 


408  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

queen,  his  own  near  relation,  who  could  have  wronged  no 
one,  since  she  did  not  as  yet  know  good  from  evil. 

Henry  VIII.  is  said  to  have  evinced  some  kind  feelings 
toward  the  memory  of  his  unfortunate  nephew :  he  shed  a 
tear  over  James's  fate,  and  imputed  his  errors  to  evil  coun- 
sellors. Monarchs,  however,  have  little  leisure  to  indulge 
hi  sentimental  sorrows.  The  king  of  England  soon  lost  the 
recollection  of  his  nephew's  faults  and  merits  in  considering 
how  the  events  which  had  happened  could  be  rendered  avail- 
able to  the  increase  of  his  own  territories  and  authority.  The 
road  to  the  conquest  of  Scotland  might,  to  a  sanguine  prince, 
appear  to  lie  open ;  but  it  had  been  repeatedly  attempted  from 
the  time  of  Severus  downward,  and  had  never  been  found 
practicable.  The  impetuous  temper  of  Henry  VIII.  was, 
therefore,  forced  to  stoop  to  the  plan  adopted  by  Edward  I., 
ere  the  death  of  the  Maid  of  Norway  compelled  his  ambition 
to  wear  a  sterner  and  more  undisguised  shape.  A  matri- 
monial alliance  between  the  young  heiress  of  Scotland  and 
his  son,  afterward  Edward  VI.,  promised  the  English  mon- 
arch all  the  advantages  of  conquest  without  either  risk  or 
odium.  With  this  purpose  he  kept  his  eyes  bent  earnestly 
on  the  affairs  of  Scotland,  to  seize,  as  fast  as  they  should 
occur,  all  means  of  furthering  so  desirable  an  object. 

The  government  of  the  kingdom  was  claimed  by  the  late 
Prime  Minister,  Cardinal  Beaton,  in  virtue  of  a  testament  of 
the  deceased  king,  which,  however,  was  universally  regarded 
as  a  forgery  perpetrated  by  that  ambitious  churchman.  He 
had,  as  before  mentioned,  succeeded  his  uncle,  the  turbulent 
archbishop  of  Glasgow,  in  James's  councils,  and  was  es- 
teemed the  author  of  most  of  the  deceased  king's  unpopular 
measures,  especially  those  in  persecution  of  heresy.  The 
nobles,  who  had  no  mind  to  perpetuate  the  power  under 
which  they  had  long  groaned,  unanimously  rejected  the 
claim,  and  preferred  that  of  the  Earl  of  Arran,  representa- 
tive or  the  House  of  Hamilton,  and  next  heir  to  the  Scottish 
crown,  who  was  recognized  accordingly  as  regent.  Beaton 
was  made  prisoner  by  order  of  the  regent,  and  detained  in 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  409 

a  species  of  honorable  captivity,  to  prevent  his  embroiling 
the  new  government  by  the  intrigues  of  which  he  was  mas- 
ter ;  and  thus  the  Earl  of  Arran  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
affairs. 

To  this  nobleman  Henry  addressed  himself,  March  15, 
1542,  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  the  matrimonial  treaty 
which  he  had  so  much  at  heart.  He  did  not  neglect  the  ob- 
vious precaution  of  securing  an  interest  and  a  party  in  the 
Scottish  parliament.  With  this  view  the  English  ministers 
were  directed  to  cultivate  the  intimacy  of  the  various  Scot- 
tish nobles  and  persons  of  rank  who  had  been  so  strangely 
made  prisoners  at  the  rout  of  Solway  Moss.  Among  these 
were  the  Earls  of  Cassilis  and  Glencairn,  the  Lords  Max- 
well, Somerville,  Oliphant,  and  Gray.  These  nobles  were 
dismissed  free  and  without  ransom  by  Henry  VIII.,  upon 
their  engaging  to  promote  the  views  of  that  monarch  by  as- 
sisting in  bringing  about  the  desired  alliance.  Besides  these, 
the  English  king  had  powerful  auxiliaries  in  the  banished 
Earl  of  Angus,  and  his  brother  Sir  George,  who  returned  to 
their  native  country,  without  waiting  for  a  recall,  as  soon  as 
the  death  of  James  V.  was  made  public.  Their  forfeiture 
being  instantly  reversed  in  parliament,  it  became  manifest 
that  the  displeasure  of  the  king  rather  than  the  dread  of  the 
law  had  rendered  them  so  long  exiles.  To  these  Douglases, 
indebted  to  him  for  protection  and  the  means  of  support  dur- 
ing an  exile  of  fourteen  years,  the  king  of  England  commu- 
nicated his  purposes  more  fully  than  to  the  prisoners  made 
at  Solway,  and  by  the  means  of  both  endeavored  to  form  in 
the  parliament  of  Scotland  an  English  party,  which  might 
serve  his  interests  more  effectually  than  they  could  be  ad- 
vanced by  force  of  arms.  To  this  faction  in  the  state  was 
to  be  added  the  numerous  men  of  influence  who,  being  con- 
verts to  the  Protestant  faith,  were  attached,  on  that  account, 
to  England,  and  held  hi  abhorrence  the  power  of  France. 
But  the  temper  of  Henry  was  too  impetuous  to  wait  for  the 
advantages  which,  with  a  little  temper  and  patience,  would 
certainly  have  arisen  out  of  bis  own  position  toward  Scot- 
18  -%  VOL.  I. 


410  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

land,  and  the  exertions  of  a  numerous  and  powerful  party, 
which  was  disposed  to  act  unanimously  in  his  behalf. 

The  king  of  England  manifested  the  most  eager  and  im- 
petuous desire  that  the  person  of  the  infant  queen  should  be 
delivered  into  his  custody;  and  though  it  was  represented 
to  him  that  his  proposal  would  certainly  awaken  the  ancient 
jealousy  which  had  so  long  subsisted  between  the  kingdoms, 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  at  last  consented  she  should  be 
suffered  to  remain  in  Scotland  till  she  attained  the  age  of  ten 
years  complete.  Henry  wasted  so  much  time  in  these  pre- 
liminary discussions  that  he  lost  the  favorable  moment  in 
which  the  estates  of  Scotland  were  disposed  to  enter  into 
terms  with  him  concerning  the  marriage,  and  gave  time  for 
a  politic  adversary  to  recover  the  power  of  counteracting  the 
whole  project. 

The  adversary  in  question  was  Cardinal  Beaton,  who,  as 
leader  of  the  Roman  Catholic  party,  and  both  in  office  and 
in  talents  head  of  the  churchmen,  was  the  devoted  friend 
of  France,  and  the  no  less  determined  enemy  of  England. 
"While  this  intriguing  priest  was  a  prisoner  of  the  regent, 
and  while  the  rout  at  Solway  and  the  death  of  James  had 
overaw,ed  the  minds  of  those  nobles  disposed  to  concur  with 
him,  Henry  would  have  found  little  difficulty  in  accomplish- 
ing the  matrimonial  treaty  which  he  meditated.  But  the 
moment  the  artful  cardinal  was  free  (having  been  liberated 
by  the  Lord  Seton),  his  influence  began  to  appear.  By 
lavishing  money,  which  his  numerous  Church  preferments 
furnished  in  great  store,  by  awakening  all  the  ancient  preju- 
dices against  England,  and  by  dwelling  on  the  imprudent 
tenacity  with  which  Henry  had  clung  to  the  rejected  articles 
of  the  treaty,  he  contrived  to  unite  a  large  and  powerful  body 
of  the  nobles,  comprehending  Argyle,  Huntley,  and  Both- 
well,  in  opposition  to  the  English  alliance.  A  great  number 
of  the  barons,  chiefly  from  jealousy  of  the  national  independ- 
ence, joined  the  same  party;  and  the  regent  himself,  after 
showing  a  vacillation  of  temper  which  in  a  less  serious  mat- 
ter would  have  been  ludicrous,  threw  himself  at  last  into  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  411 

arms  of  the  cardinal,  and,  within  eight  days  after  he  had 
ratified  the  marriage  treaty,  renounced  the  friendship  of 
Henry  and  declared  himself  for  the  French  interest.  This 
change  in  Arran's  politics  was  attended  with  a  correspond- 
ing alteration  in  his  religion,  for  he  had  hitherto  pretended 
great  respect  for  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  and  now 
he  consented  to  every  measure  proposed  by  the  cardinal  for 
its  suppression. 

Henry  was  not  to  be  trifled  with  in  this  manner  with  im- 
punity. Resentment  at  what  he  termed  the  Scottish  breach 
of  faith  prompted  him  to  a  vindictive  invasion  by  sea  and 
land :  a  strong  army,  under  the  Earl  of  Hertford,  was  em- 
barked in  a  numerous  fleet.  He  took  the  Scots  by  surprise, 
landed  in  the  Firth,  plundered  Edinburgh  and  the  adjacent 
country,  and  thus  destroyed  for  a  time  the  English  influence 
with  the  Scottish  nobles.  A  series  of  destructive  inroads  on 
the  frontier  only  added  to  the  unpopularity  of  Henry  with 
the  people  of  Scotland. 

Even  Angus,  the  guest,  pensioner,  and  brother-in-law  of 
Henry  by  his  marriage  with  the  widowed  queen  of  James 
IV.,  renounced  the  English  monarch's  friendship  during  the 
course  of  these  ravages,  and  was  distinguished  by  the  share 
he  took  in  an  action  by  which  they  were  in  some  degree  re- 
venged. The  circumstances  were  these : 

The  ravages  of  the  English  during  the  campaign  of  1 554 
were  systematically  conducted  by  Sir  Ralph  Ewers  and  Sir 
Brian  Latoun,  soldiers  of  great  skill  and  activity,  and  ward- 
ens on  the  English  marches.  They  cast  down  or  burned  a 
hundred  and  ninety-two  towns,  towers,  bastle-houses,  and 
parish  churches,  slew  nearly  a  thousand  Scots,  and  made 
upward  of  ten  thousand  captives.  Ten  thousand  horned 
cattle,  with  twelve  hundred  horses,  were  but  a  part  of  the 
spoil  made  within  three  or  four  months.  Many  of  the  Scot- 
tish inhabitants  of  the  western  border,  and  the  men  of  Lid- 
disdale  in  particular,  assumed  from  necessity  a  semblance 
of  allegiance  to  England,  and  aided  the  invaders  in  these 
forays  on  Scotland. 


412  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

To  gratify  the  wardens  for  these  achievements,  the  king 
of  England  conferred  upon  them  in  fief  the  two  border 
counties  of  the  Merse  and  Teviotdale,  1545.  Sir  Ralph, 
now  Lord  Ewers,  and  Sir  Brian  Latoun  advanced  to  take 
saisin,  as  they  said,  of  their  new  lordship,  at  the  head  of 
three  thousand  hired  soldiers,  paid  by  Henry,  and  two  thou- 
sand borderers,  the  half  of  whom  were  Scots  under  English 
assurance.  "I  will  write  them  an  instrument  of  investiture 
with  sharp  pens  and  bloody  ink,"  said  the  Earl  of  Angus, 
much  of  whose  private  estate  was  included  in  this  liberal 
grant  on  the  part  of  his  royal  brother-in-law.  Accordingly, 
he  urged  the  regent  to  pass  hastily  to  the  borders  with  such 
men  as  he  had  immediately  around  him,  and  put  a  stop  to 
the  dilapidation  and  dismemberment  of  the  kingdom. 

A  small  body  of  three  hundred  men  was  assembled,  un- 
equal, from  their  inferior  number,  to  do  more  than  observe 
the  enemy,  who  moved  forward  with  their  full  force  from 
Jedburgh  to  Melrose,  where  they  spoiled  the  splendid  con- 
vent, in  which  lay  the  bones  of  many  a  heroic  Douglas.  The 
Scots  were  joined  in  the  night  by  the  Leslies  and  Lindesays, 
and  other  gentlemen  from  the  western  part  of  Fife;  and  ap- 
parently the  English  learned  that  the  regent's  forces  were 
increasing,  since  they  retreated  toward  Jedburgh  at  the 
break  of  day.  The  Scots  followed,  manoeuvring  to  gain 
the  flank  of  the  enemy.  They  were  joined,  near  the  village 
of  Maxton,  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  of  Buccleuch  with  his  follow- 
ers, by  whose  knowledge  of  the  ground  and  experience  in 
irregular  warfare  the  regent  was  counselled  to  simulate  a 
retreat.  The  English  halted,  formed,  and  rushed  hastily 
to  pursue,  so  that,  encountering  the  enemy  unawares,  and 
at  disadvantage,  they  were  totally  defeated.  The  two  lead- 
ers fell,  and  very  manj^  of  their  followers,  for  the  victors 
showed  little  mercy;  and  the  Liddisdale  men,  who  had  come 
with  the  English  as  friends,  flung  away  the  red  crosses  which 
they  had  brought  to  the  battle,  and  made  a  pitiless  slaughter 
among  the  troops  whom  they  had  joined  as  auxiliaries.  Many 
prisoners  were  taken,  on  whom  heavy  ransoms  were  levied, 


HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND  413 

particularly  on  an  alderman  of  London,  named  Bead,  whom 
Henry  VIII.  had  obliged  to  serve  in  person  in  the  wars,  be- 
cause he  refused  to  pay  his  share  of  a  benevolence  imposed 
on  the  city,  it  appearing  that  though  the  king  of  England 
could  not  invade  a  citizen's  property,  he  had  despotic  power 
sufficient  to  impress  his  person. 

King  Henry  was  greatly  enraged  at  the  loss  of  this  action, 
and  uttered  threats  against  Angus,  whom  he  accused  of  in- 
gratitude. The  Scottish  earl  little  regarded  his  displeasure. 
"Is  our  brother,"  he  said,  "angry  that  I  have  avenged  on 
Ralph  Ewers  the  injury  done  to  the  tombs  of  my  ancestors? 
They  were  better  men  than  he,  and  I  could  in  honor  do  no 
less.  And  will  he  take  my  life  for  that?  Little  knows  King 
Henry  the  heights  of  Cairntable. l  I  can  keep  myself  safe 
there  against  all  the  power  of  England.'* 

Thus  all  the  nobility  of  Scotland,  even  those  most  nearly 
connected  with  Henry,  and  who  had  been  most  indebted  to 
his  favor,  were,  by  his  impetuous  and  harsh  mode  of  wooing, 
rendered  averse  to  the  match  which  he  had  set  his  heart  upon, 
and  which  in  itself  they  approved,  and  had  been  so  lately  will- 
ing to  further  by  every  means  in  their  power.  Nor  was  his 
loss  of  partisans  in  that  country  compensated  even  by  the 
accident  which  removed  from  his  path  Cardinal  Beaton,  by 
whom  it  had  been  chiefly  interrupted. 

This  statesman  had  not  reached  the  summit  of  affairs 
without  making  many  private  enemies,  as  well  as  acquiring 
the  hatred  of  those  who  considered  him  as  the  prime  oppo- 
nent of  tho  Protestant  Church,  and  author  of  the  death  of 
those  revered  characters  who  had  suffered  for  heresy.  A 
recent  instance  of  this  kind,  perpetrated  under  Beaton's 
own  eye,  was  marked  with  unusual  atrocity.  A  Protestant 
preacher,  named  George  Wisheart,  born  of  a  good  family, 
and  respected  for  eloquence,  learning,  and  for  a  gentleness 
and  sweetness  of  disposition  which  made  him  universally 
esteemed,  had  distinguished  himself  much  by  preaching  the 
reformed  doctrines.  Even  the  regent  declined  to  proceed 
1  Cairntable,  a  mountain  in  Douglas  Dale. 


414  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

against  him,  or  to  commission  lay  judges  to  sit  upon  his 
trial.  The  cardinal,  however,  having  treacherously  got  his 
person  into  his  hands,  proceeded  to  arraign  the  prisoner  of 
heresy  before  an  ecclesiastical  court,  by  whom  he  was  tried, 
found  guilty,  and  condemned  to  the  stake.  Beaton  himself 
sat  in  state  to  behold  the  execution  of  the  sentence  from 
the  walls  of  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's,  before  which  it 
took  place. 

"When  Wisheart  came  forth  to  die,  and  beheld  the  author 
of  his  misfortunes  reposing  in  pomp  upon  the  battlements  to 
witness  his  torments,  he  said  to  those  around,  either  from  a 
conviction  that  the  country  would  not  long  abide  the  cardi- 
nal's violence,  or  from  that  spirit  of  prescience  said  some- 
times to  inspire  the  words  of  those  who  are  standing  between 
time  and  eternity,  "See  yonder  proud  man:  I  tell  you  that 
in  a  brief  space  ye  shall  see  him  flung  out  on  yonder  ram- 
parts with  infamy  and  scorn  equal  to  the  pomp  and  dignity 
with  which  he  now  occupies  it."  The  martyr  died  with  the 
utmost  patience  and  bravery,  and  it  is  probable  his  words 
did  not  fall  to  the  ground. 

Meantime  the  cardinal,  conscious  of  the  danger  in  which 
he  stood  in  a  country  where  men's  swords  did  not  wait  the 
sanction  of  legal  sentence  to  exact  vengeance  for  real  or  sup- 
posed injuries,  usually  dwelt  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrew's, 
which  stood  on  a  peninsula  overhanging  the  sea,  and  was 
strongly  fortified.  There -were  workmen  employed  to  repair 
and  strengthen  the  defences  of  the  place  at  the  very  time 
that  a  desperate  and  irritated  enemy  contrived  the  death 
of  the  bishop  within  its  precincts.  Norman  Lesley,  called 
Master  of  Rothes,  nourished  deep  resentment  against  the 
cardinal  for  some  private  cause;  and  associating  with  him 
about  fifteen  men,  who  shared  his  sentiments  for  sundry 
reasons,  they  surprised  the  castle  at  the  break  of  day,  ex- 
pelled the  garrison,  and  murdered  the  object  of  their  enmity 
with  many  circumstances  of  cruelty.  Execrable  as  the  action 
was  in  conclusion  and  execution,  they  were  able  to  assemble 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  defend  the  deed  they  had 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  415 

done,  and  defied  all  the  forces  which  the  regent  could  bring 
against  them,  until  the  French  king  sent  to  his  assistance  a 
body  of  auxiliaries,  to  whose  superior  skill  the  conspirators 
were  compelled  to  surrender  themselves,  under  promise  of 
safety  for  their  lives. 

Even  the  death  of  Beaton,'  though  his  most  inveterate 
political  adversary,  did  not  benefit  the  cause  of  Henry.  The 
cardinal's  place,  both  as  primate  and  as  counsellor  of  the  re- 
gent, was  supplied  by  a  natural  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Arran, 
John  Hamilton,  abbot  of  Paisley,  who,  from  possessing  a 
superior  firmness  of  mind,  exercised  much  influence  over 
his  brother,  and  was  as  devoted  a  friend  to  France  and  the 
Catholic  cause  as  the  murdered  cardinal  had  been  during 
his  lifetime. 

So  stood  the  English  interests  in  Scotland,  which  had 
been  ruined  by  the  impetuous  rudeness  of  Henry  VIII., 
when  that  monarch  was  summoned  to  answer  for  his  stew- 
ardship before  an  awful  tribunal.  It  seemed,  however,  as 
if  his  spirit  continued  to  animate  his  late  council  board.  In 
emulative  prosecution  of  the  war  between  England  and  Scot- 
land, the  Duke  of  Somerset,  protector  of  England,  entered 
the  eastern  marches  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  seventy  thou- 
sand men,  many  of  whom  were  mercenary  bands  from  Spain 
and  Italy,  experienced  in  war,  and  peculiarly  formidable 
when  their  skill,  experience,  and  discipline  were  opposed  to 
an  enemy  so  irregular  as  the  Scottish  forces.  The  regent, 
however,  assembled  an  army  almost  doubling  in  numbers 
that  of  the  invaders,  and  assuming  a  defensive  situation 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Esk  above  Musselburgh,  placed  the 
lord  protector  of  England  in  considerable  danger,  since  he 
could  not  advance  without  fighting  at  disadvantage,  could 
not  keep  his  ground  for  want  of  provisions,  and  must  have 
experienced  great  difficulty  in  attempting  a  retreat.  Pru- 
dence and  delay  would  probably  have  placed  the  victory  in 
the  hands  of  the  Scots.  But  the  military  testament  of  Rob- 
ert Bruce  was  once  more  forgotten,  and  the  Scots,  with 
national  impetuosity,  abandoned  the  vantage  ground,  to 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

fight  for  the  victory  which  time  and  patience  would  have 
given  them  without  risk. 

The  English  army  occupied  the  crest  of  a  sloping  hill,  on 
the  southern  side  of  the  Esk,  above  Pinkie;  that  of  Scotland, 
arranged  in  three  large  bodies,  chiefly  consisting  of  spear- 
men, having  crossed  the  river,  began  slowly  to  ascend  the 
acclivity.  The  English  cavalry  charged  with  fury  on  the 
foremost  mass  of  spearmen ;  but  were  received  so  firmly  by 
the  Scottish  phalanx  that  they  were  beaten  off  with  consid- 
erable loss.  It  is  said  that  this  commencement  of  the  battle 
appeared  so  ominous  to  Somerset  that  he  called  for  guides, 
and  was  about  to  order  a  retreat.  His  secret  rival,  and,  as 
he  afterward  proved,  his  mortal  enemy,  Dudley,  earl  of 
Warwick,  entertained  better  hopes,  and  directly  commenced 
a  flank  fire  with  the  cannon  of  the  army  and  the  arquebuses 
of  the  foreign  mercenaries  on  the  thick  body  of  spearmen. 
Angus,  by  whom  the  Scottish  vanguard  was  commanded, 
endeavored  to  change  his  position  to  avoid  the  cannonade. 
About  the  same  time  some  Highlanders  of  the  second  divis- 
ion had  broken  their  order,  to  hasten  to  the  spoil,  so  that 
their  irregular  appearance,  with  the  retrograde  movement 
of  Angus,  communicated  a  panic  to  the  rest  of  the  Scottish 
army,  who  thought  they  were  routed.  At  this  decisive 
moment  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  had  rallied  the  English 
cavalry,  brought  them  again  to  the  charge,  and  introduced 
among  the  disordered  forces  of  the  Scots  that  terror  which 
he  had  failed  in  producing  upon  these  masses  while  they 
maintained  their  ranks.  The  numerous  army  of  the  Scots 
fled  in  total  and  irremediable  confusion.  Thus  ended  the 
battle  of  Pinkie,  without  either  a  long  or  bloody  conflict. 
But  the  English  horsemen,  incensed  at  the  check  which  they 
received  in  their  first  onset,  pursued  the  chase  almost  to  the 
gates  of  Edinburgh  with  unusual  severity;  and  as  many  of 
the  fugitives  were  drowned  in  the  Esk,  which  was  swelled 
with  the  tide,  the  loss  of  the  Scots  in  the  battle  and  flight 
amounted  to  ten  thousand  men.  The  whole  space  between 
the  field  of  battle  and  the  capital  was  strewed  with  dead 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  417 

bodies,  and  with  the  weapons  which  the  fugitives  had 
thrown  away  in  their  flight. 

Yet  this  great  battle  was  followed  by  no  corresponding 
effects;  for  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  having  garrisoned  and 
fortified  the  town  of  Haddington,  and  received  the  com- 
pulsory submission  of  some  of  the  border  chiefs,  withdrew 
to  England  with  his  victorious  army.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  loss  of  the  battle,  as  it  threw  the  Scottish  nation  into 
despair,  compelled  them  in  a  manner  to  seek  the  assistance 
of  France.  An  assembly  of  nobles  met  at  Stirling,  when  it 
was  agreed  that  the  efficient  support  of  their  ancient  ally 
should  be  purchased  by  offering  the  hand  of  their  young 
queen  in  marriage  to  the  Dauphin  of  France.  They  con- 
sented voluntarily  to  place  her  person  in  the  hands  of  Henry 
II.,  the  father  of  her  bridegroom,  on  condition  that  he  would 
furnish  the  Scottish  nation  with  immediate  and  powerful  as- 
sistance to  recover  Haddington  and  such  other  places  as  the 
English  had  garrisoned,  and  to  defend  the  rest  of  the  king- 
dom in  case  of  a  repetition  of  the  invasions.  The  liberal 
terms  thus  freely  offered  to  France  were  the  more  surpris- 
ing, as  the  estates  of  Scotland  had  recently  shown  insur- 
mountable reluctance  to  place  similar  confidence  in  Henry 
VIII.  But  from  the  prejudices  created  by  a  thousand  years 
of  war,  the  Scottish  and  the  English  nations  were  inspired 
with  a  jealousy  of  each  other  which  did  not  exist  in  either 
country  against  other  foreigners. 

Henry  II.  of  France  caught  at  so  favorable  an  opportu- 
nity of  acquiring  a  new  kingdom  for  his  son.  Six  thousand 
veteran  troops,  under  Monsieur  d'Esse,  were  instantly  de- 
spatched to  Scotland,  and  it  was  hi  the  camp  which  they 
formed  before  Haddington  that  the  articles  of  the  royal 
marriage  were  finally  adjusted.  The  queen-regent  used  the 
utmost  of  her  art  and  address,  and  no  woman  of  her  time 
possessed  more,  in  order  to  gain  over  the  opinions  of  such 
as  could  be  influenced,  and  intimidate  those  who  could  not 
be  so  won.  The  regent,  Earl  of  Arran,  was  induced  to  con- 
sent by  a  grant  from  Henry  II.  to  accept  the  French  title 


418  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

of  Duke  of  Chatelherault,  with  a  considerable  pension  from 
the  same  country.  The  opposition  of  meaner  persons  was 
silenced  by  very  intelligible  threats  of  violence  from  men 
that  were  extremely  likely  to  keep  their  word ;  the  fear  of 
the  French  arms,  among  which  they  .held  their  councils, 
imposed  silence  on  others;  and  the  person  of  the  infant 
Queen  Mary,  suitably  attended,  was  sent  over  to  France 
by  the  same  fleet  which  had  escorted  d'Esse  and  his  troops 
to  Scotland.1  And  thus,  ere  Mary  knew  what  the  word 
meant,  she  was  bestowed  in  marriage  upon  a  sickly  and 
silly  boy,  a  lot  which  might  be  said  to  begin  her  calamities. 
The  queen-dowager  having  perfected  this  great  match  in 
favor  of  the  king  of  France,  her  kinsman,  became  naturally 
desirous  of  obtaining  the  interim  administration  of  Scotland 
until  her  daughter  should  attain  the  years  of  discretion. 
For  this  purpose  she  dealt  with  the  indolent  and  indecisive 
Earl  of  Arran  for  a  cession  of  the  regency.  An  augmented 
pension  from  France,  high  honors  to  himself  and  his  friends, 
were  liberally  promised,  together  with  a  public  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  right  as  next  heir  to  the  Scottish  throne.  On  the 
contrary,  the  threat  of  a  minute  inquiry  into  his  legitimacy, 
which  was  not  beyond  question,  a  severe  investigation  of  his 
management  while  regent,  the  ill-will  of  the  queen  and  her 
party  in  the  state,  were  arguments  which  shook  his  resolu- 
tion. He  acquiesced  in  the  terms  proposed;  and  though 
afterward  he  retracted,  upon  the  upbraidings  of  his  brother 
the  primate,  who  irreverently  exclaimed  against  the  mean- 
ness that  would  resign  the  government  when  nothing  stood 
between  him  and  the  crown  but  the  life  of  a  puling  girl,  he 
finally  made  the  sacrifice  required  of  him,  and  aware,  per- 
haps, of  his  own  unpopularity,  resigned  to  the  superior 
firmness  of  Mary  of  Guise  the  regency  of  Scotland. 

1  Knox,  the  stern  apostle  of  Protestantism,  says  that  "some  were 
corrupted  with  buds  (bribes),  some  deceived  with  flattering  promises, 
and  some  for  fear  were  compelled  to  consent,  for  the  French  soldiers 
were  officers  of  arms  in  that  parliament.  The  Lord  of  Buccleuch,  a 
bloody  man,  with  many  G— d's  wounds,  said  that  they  that  did  not 
assent  should  do  worse." — History  of  the  Reformation,  1644. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  419 

In  this  capacity  the  queen-mother  showed  vigor  and  de- 
termination. With  the  assistance  of  d'Esse's  French  troops, 
she  retook  Haddington  from  the  English,  and  drove  out 
other  petty  garrisons  which  they  had  established  after  the 
battle  of  Pinkie.  This  warfare,  though  the  actions  were 
on  a  small  scale,  was  uncommonly  sanguinary.  Many  of 
the  English  officers  had  committed  insolencies  and  atrocities 
during  their  hour  of  success  which  the  Scots  could  not  for- 
give ;  and  not  only  did  the  latter  themselves  refuse  quarter 
to  the  English,  but  there  were  instances  of  their  purchasing 
English  prisoners  from  the  French,  merely,  like  Indian  sav- 
ages, to  have  the  pleasure  of  putting  them  to  death.  To 
such  a  height  of  animosity  had  mutual  ravages  and  con- 
stant injuries  heated  the  national  resentment  of  two  coun- 
tries, which,  save  for  an  imaginary  line  of  boundary,  were 
in  fact  the  same  people. 

The  victory  of  Pinkie  thus  had  no  more  effectual  conse- 
quences in  favor  of  England  than  those  which  had  followed 
former  defeats  of  the  Scottish  armies,  and  it  furnished  an 
additional  proof,  that  while  it  was  easy  to  inflict  deep  hi  ju- 
ries upon  Scotland,  it  seemed  difficult  or  impossible  abso- 
lutely to  subdue  the  country.  After  so  much  expenditure 
of  blood  and  treasure,  the  Scots  were  included  in  a  peace 
between  France  and  England,  which,  amid  civil  discord 
and  party  faction,  the  Duke  of  "Warwick,  now  at  the  head 
of  English  affairs,  was  glad  to  accede  to. 

The  queen-regent  of  Scotland,  in  her  new  acquisition  of 
power,  had  one  great  disadvantage.  She  was  a  French- 
woman ;  and  while  she  was  in  truth  desirous  of  serving  her 
country  and  sovereign,  she  found  it  very  difficult  to  con- 
vince the  people  of  Scotland  that  she  was  not  willing  to 
sacrifice  the  interests  of  the  country  which  she  ruled  to  that 
of  which  she  was  the  native.  The  auxiliary  army  of  d'Esse 
did  not  leave  Scotland  without  a  renewal  of  the  hostile  dis- 
position which  had  on  former  occasions  arisen  between  the 
French  troops  and  the  Scots,  to  whose  assistance  they  had 
been  sent.  The  rudeness,  poverty,  and  haughty  ignorance 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

of  the  Scots  took  offence  at  the  airs  of  superiority  assumed 
by  the  brave  and  polished,  but  arrogant  and  petulant  French. 
This  had  been  the  case  in  John  de  Vienne's  time.  But  a 
large  part  of  the  Scottish  nation  had  now  additional  reasons 
for  disliking  the  auxiliary  forces  of  d'Esse:  they  hated  them 
not  only  as  foreigners,  but  as  papists.  A  brawl,  arising  out 
of  a  contention  between  a  gunsmith  of  Edinburgh  and  a 
French  soldier,  about  a  culverin,  ended  in  an  open  riot,  to 
which  both  parties  were  previously  well  disposed.  The  Scots 
and  French  fought  in  the  streets  of  Edinburgh,  in  which 
skirmish  the  lord  provost  of  the  town  and  the  governor  of 
the  castle  were  both  slain.  Peace  was  restored  with  the 
utmost  difficulty;  but  their  having  been  guilty  of  such  an 
insult  hi  the  capital  of  their  ally  added  greatly  to  the  grow- 
ing unpopularity  of  the  auxiliaries. 

Although  these  ominous  occurrences  ought  to  have  put 
the  queen-regent  on  her  guard  against  appearing  to  act  by 
the  advice  of  foreigners,  and  although  the  example  of  the 
Duke  of  Albany  and  the  fate  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Bastie  might 
have  made  her  aware  of  the  antipathy  of  the  Scots  to  the 
rule  of  strangers,  she  did  not  hesitate  to  confer  on  French- 
men situations  of  trust  and  dignity  in  the  Scottish  state,  and 
to  use  their  advice  in  her  councils.  These  new  statesmen, 
better  acquainted  with  the  constitution  and  politics  of  France 
than  those  of  Scotland,  advised  the  queen  to  find  means  of 
supporting  her  government,  by  laying  upon  the  landed  pro- 
prietors taxes  sufficient  to  maintain  a  standing  army,  and 
placing  garrisons  in  the  principal  fortresses  of  the  kingdom, 
of  which,  either  by  hereditary  right  or  by  grants  from  the 
crown,  the  nobility  were  the  guardians.  This  proposal  of 
the  queen,  made  according  to  the  advice  of  her  French  ad- 
visers, was  in  the  highest  degree  unpalatable.  The  poverty 
of  the  nation  was  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  a  land  tax,  and 
its  pride  at  the  supposition  that  the  defence  of  the  country 
could  be  better  secured  by  intrusting  it  to  mercenaries  rather 
than  to  the  children  of  the  soil.  As  an  experiment,  the 
queen-regent  requested  the  Earl  of  Angus's  consent  to  put 


HISTORY   OF  SCOTLAND  431 

a  French  garrison  into  his  castle  of  Tantallon.  On  hearing 
this  proposal,  the  earl  answered  in  words  intended  to  apply 
to  the  queen,  but  directed  to  a  hawk  which  sat  on  his  fist, 
and  which  he  was  feeding  at  the  time,  "The  devil  is  in  the 
greedy  kite;  she  will  never  be  satisfied."  But  more  directly 
and  pointedly  pressed  on  the  subject,  he  said,  "Tantallon 
is  at  your  majesty's  command  as  regent  of  the  kingdom; 
but,  by  Saint  Bride  of  Douglas,  I  must  remain  castellan  of 
the  fortress  for  your  behoof,  and  I  will  keep  it  better  for  you 
than  any  foreigners  whom  you  could  place  there." 

When  the  plan  of  raising  mercenary  troops  was  proposed 
in  parliament,  about  three  hundred  of  the  lesser  barons  came 
before  the  queen  in  a  body,  and  asserted  that  they  were  as 
able  to  defend  their  country  as  their  fathers  had  been,  and 
that  they  would  not  permit  the  sacred  task,  which  was  the 
most  honorable  part  of  their  birthright,  to  be  transferred 
to  mercenaries  and  strangers.  The  queen-regent,  therefore, 
saw  herself  compelled  to  abandon  her  proposal. 

The  defeat  of  this  scheme,  which  involved  the  embryo 
purpose  of  a  standing  army,  was  not  more  mortifying  than 
the  failure  of  another,  by  which  Mary  of  Guise,  out  of  a 
natural  affection  to  her  nation,  hoped  to  serve  the  interests 
of  France,  now  engaged  in  war  with  Spain  and  England, 
by  embroiling  Scotland  in  the  quarrel.  But  although  she 
contrived  without  much  trouble  to  effect  a  breach  of  the 
peace  between  two  countries  which  were  equally  jealous  and 
irritable,  yet  the  Scottish  nation,  taught  by  experience, 
entered  into  the  contest  as  a  defensive  war  only;  neither 
could  the  urgency  of  le  Crocq,  who  commanded  the  French 
troops,  nor  the  entreaties  of  the  queen-regent,  prevail  on 
them  to  set  a  foot  on  English  ground. 

Meanwhile,  in  1558,  the  marriage  of  the  young  queen 
of  Scots  was  solemnly  celebrated,  and  that  union  between 
France  and  Scotland  achieved,  so  far  as  depended  upon  the 
execution  of  the  marriage  treaty.  But  by  this  time  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  had  become  so  interesting  as  to  have  greater 
weight  in  the  scale  of  national  policy  than  at  any  former  period. 


422  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

Thirty  years  had  elapsed  since  the  martyrdom  of  Patrick 
Hamilton  for  heresy ;  and  during  that  period  the  Protestant 
doctrines,  obvious  as  they  were  to  the  most  ordinary  capaci- 
ties, had  risen  into  that  estimation  which  sense  and  firmness 
will  always  ultimately  attain  over  craft  and  hypocrisy.  They 
were  promulgated  by  many  daring  preachers,  who,  with  rude 
but  ready  eloquence,  averred  the  truths  which  they  were 
ready  to  seal  with  their  blood.  Among  these,  the  most 
eminent  was  John  Knox,  a  man  of  a  fearless  heart  and  a 
fluent  eloquence ;  violent,  indeed,  and  sometimes  coarse,  but 
the  better  fitted  to  obtain  influence  in  a  coarse  and  turbulent 
age — capable  at  once  of  reasoning  with  the  wiser  nobility, 
and  inspiring  with  his  own  spirit  and  zeal  the  fierce  populace. 
Toleration,  and  that  species  of  candor  which  makes  allow- 
ance for  the  prejudices  of  birth  or  situation,  were  unknown 
to  his  uncompromising  mind;  and  this  deficiency  made  him 
the  more  fit  to  play  the  distinguished  part  to  which  he  was 
called.  It  was  not  alone  the  recluse  and  the  solitary  student 
that  listened  to  these  theological  discussions.  Men  of  the 
world,  and  those  engaged  in  the  affairs  of  life,  lent  an  atten- 
tive ear  to  arguments  against  the  doctrines  of  Rome,  and 
declamations  exposing  their  ambition,  pride,  and  sensuality. 
The  burgher  and  the  peasant  were  encouraged  to  appeal  to 
the  Word  of  God  itself  from  those  who  called  themselves  his 
ministers,  and  each  was  taught  to  assume  the  right  of  judg- 
ing for  himself  in  matters  of  conscience,  and  at  the  same 
time  encouraged  to  resist  the  rapacity  with  which  church 
dues  were  exacted  in  the  course  of  life,  and  even  in  the  hour 
of  death.  The  impoverished  noble  learned  to  consider  that 
the  right  of  the  Church  to  one-half  at  least  of  the  whole  land 
of  Scotland  was  a  usurpation  over  the  lay  proprietor ;  and 
the  prospect  of  a  new  road  to  heaven  was  not  the  less  pleas- 
ing that  it  promised,  if  trod  courageously,  to  lie  through 
paths  of  profit  upon  earth.  The  older  generation  had  lis- 
tened but  slowly  and  unwillingly  to  a  creed  which  shocked 
the  feelings  of  awe  and  reverence  for  the  practices  of  wor- 
ship in  which  they  had  been  educated;  but  the  younger, 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  423 

who  had  risen  into  life  while  the  discussions  were  common 
and  familiar  topics,  embraced  the  reformed  doctrines  with 
equal  zeal  and  avidity. 

Since  the  death  of  Cardinal  Beaton,  there  had  been  no 
attempt  to  turn  the  force  of  the  existing  laws  against  the 
growth  of  heresy.  Hamilton,  the  archbishop  of  Saint  An- 
drew's, though  said  to  lead  a  life  too  irregular  for  a  church- 
man, was  more  gentle  and  moderate  than  his  predecessor, 
Beaton;  and  the  queen-mother  was  too  prudent,  and  too 
well  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Scotland  and  the  temper 
of  the  people,  to  engage  of  her  own  accord  in  a  struggle 
with  so  powerful  a  sect  as  the  reformers,  who  now  assumed 
the  name  of  the  Congregation.  But  when  her  daughter 
became  queen  of  France,  the  celebrated  Duke  of  Guise  and 
the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  urged  upon  their  sister  the  regent 
the  absolute  duty  and  necessity  of  rooting  out  the  Scottish 
heresy.  For  this  they  had  more  reasons  than  mere  zeal  for 
the  Catholic  religion,  though  theirs  was  of  the  warmest 
temperature. 

Mary  of  England  was  now  dead;  and  the  land,  which 
had  relapsed  into  popery  at  her  accession,  had  again  adopted 
the  Protestant  faith  under  her  sister  Elizabeth.  The  Cath- 
olics were  not  disposed  to  consider  this  great  princess  as  a 
legitimate  sovereign,  but  rather  as  the  adulterous  daughter 
of  Henry  VIII.  by  Anne  Boleyne,  his  concubine,  for  whose 
sake  he  had  broken  the  bonds  of  matrimony  with  Queen 
Catherine,  and  cast  away  the  filial  obedience  due  to  the  see 
of  Rome.  Failing  Elizabeth,  Mary,  queen  of  Scotland,  was 
heir  of  England  in  right  of  her  grandmother  Margaret,  the 
sister  of  Henry  VIII.  In  the  eyes  of  all  true  Catholics,  she 
had  not  only  a  contingent,  but  an  immediate  claim  to  suc- 
ceed her  namesake  in  the  government.  This  title  offered 
the  most  splendid  visions  to  the  two  brothers  of  the  House 
of  Guise,  who  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  subjecting  Eng- 
land itself  to  the  sway  of  their  niece  by  means  of  the  En- 
glish Catholics,  a  numerous  and  powerful  body.  But  this 
could  only  be  accomplished  by  gaining  for  the  Scottish  queen 


424  HISTORY   OF   SCOTLAND 

the  credit  of  a  faithful  nursing-mother  of  the  Church,  in  de- 
stroying that  branch  of  the  great  northern  heresy  which  had 
raised  its  head  in  the  kingdom  of  Scotland.  She  could  not, 
with  consistency,  claim  the  character  of  a  sound  Catholic, 
a  person  likely  to  re-establish  Catholicism  in  England,  while 
the  exercise  of  the  reformed  religion  was  publicly  permitted 
in  the  realm  which  was  properly  her  own. 

Mary's  mother,  the  queen-regent,  was,  therefore,  against 
her  better  judgment,  urged  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  the  re- 
formers in  Scotland,  and  she  involved  herself  by  the  attempt 
in  a  train  of  consequences  which  poisoned  all  the  future 
tranquillity  of  her  regency  and  her  life.  The  pretext  was 
taken  from  some  insults  offered  by  the  Protestants  to  the 
images  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  particularly  to  Saint  Giles, 
patron  of  the  metropolis,  whose  effigy  was  first  thrown  into 
the  North  Loch,  and  then  burned.  To  chastise  this  insolence, 
various  among  the  most  noted  popular  preachers  were  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  queen-regent  and  the  bishops, 
and  to  undergo  their  trial  as  authors  of  the  sedition.  The 
preachers  resolved  to  attend ;  and,  that  they  might  do  so  with 
safety,  they  availed  themselves  of  a  custom  in  Scotland  (a 
right  barbarous  one),  by  which  a  person  accused  was  wont 
to  appear  at  the  bar  with  as  many  friends  as  were  willing 
to  stand  by  him  and  defend  his  cause.  The  time  was  propi- 
tious; for  a  band  of  western  gentlemen,  zealous  Protestants, 
were  returning  homeward  from  military  services  on  the 
border,  and  willingly  appeared  in  arms  for  the  protection 
of  their  pastors.  They  were  in  vain  charged  by  proclama- 
tion to  depart  from  the  city.  On  the  contrary,  they  assem- 
bled themselves,  and  with  little  reverence  forced  themselves 
into  the  queen's  presence,  then  sitting  in  council  with  the 
bishops. 

Chalmers  of  Gadgirth,  a  bold  and  zealous  man,  spoke 
in  the  name  of  the  rest — "Madam,  we  know  that  this  proc- 
lamation is  a  device  of  the  bishops  and  of  that  bastard 
(the  primate  of  Saint  Andrew's)  that  stands  beside  you. 
"We  avow  to  God  that  ere  we  yield  we  will  make  a  day  of  it. 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  425 

These  idle  drones  oppress  us  and  our  tenants,  and  now  they 
seek  the  lives  of  our  ministers,  and  our  own.  Shall  we  suffer 
this  any  longer?  No,  madam,  it  shall  not  be."  As  he  con- 
cluded, every  man  put  on  his  steel  bonnet.  The  queen-regent 
was  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  fair  words  and  entreaties, 
for  little  less  was  to  be  apprehended  than  the  present  mas- 
sacre of  the  Roman  Catholic  churchmen.  But  by  the  queen's 
discharging  the  proclamation,  and  using  gentle  and  kind 
words  to  Gadgirth  and  his  companions,  the  danger  was 
averted  for  the  present. 

The  Scottish  Protestants  saw  their  advantage  and  were 
encouraged  to  further  boldness.  They  made  a  popular 
tumult  by  attacking  a  procession  of  churchmen  which  pa- 
raded through  the  streets  of  the  city.  The  images,  which 
the  insurgents  termed  Dagon  and  Bel,  were  dashed  to  pieces 
in  contempt  and  derision;  as  for  the  churchmen,  we  may 
take  John  Knox's  word,  "that  there  was  a  sudden  affray 
among  them;  for  down  goeth  the  crosses,  off  goeth  the 
surplices,  round  caps,  and  cornets  with  the  crowns:  the 
grayfriars  gaped,  the  blackfriars  blew,  the  priests  panted 
and  fled,  and  happy  was  he  who  first  got  to  the  house,  for 
such  a  sudden  fray  came  never  among  the  generation  of 
antichrist  within  the  realm  before."  This  was  the  wild 
proceeding  of  a  rabble;  but  an  association  and  bond  was 
immediately  afterward  entered  into  by  the  principal  persons 
of  the  congregation,  to  defend  their  ministers,  and  assert  the 
rights  of  hearing  and  preaching  the  Gospel.  This  avowal 
of  faith,  with  an  express  determination  to  renounce  the 
Catholic  doctrines  as  delusions  of  Satan,  was  subscribed  by 
many  men  of  power  and  influence.  The  same  leading  Prot- 
estants, now  called  the  "Lords  of  the  Congregation,"  were 
also  repeated  petitioners  to  the  queen-regent  for  some  express 
legal  protection;  but,  averse  to  place  the  new  faith  on  so 
permanent  a  footing,  she  was  liberal  in  promising  such 
countenance  from  her  own  authority  as  should  render  a 
formal  toleration  unnecessary.  An  application  to  the  con- 
vocation of  popish  clergy  for  some  relaxation  of  the  laws 


420  HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND 

against  heresy  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  refused 
by  the  churchmen  with  contempt. 

A  circumstance  happened  at  this  time  which  tended 
greatly  to  increase  the  suspicion  with  which  the  Scots  re- 
garded the  House  of  Guise.  Eight  distinguished  members 
had  been  sent  from  the  Scottish  parliament  to  witness  the 
marriage  ceremony  between  the  dauphin  of  France  and  the 
young  queen  of  Scotland.  Four  of  these,  by  a  singular 
coincidence,  happened  to  die  about  the  same  time.  The 
suspicious  credulity  of  the  age  immediately  imputed  their 
death  to  poison,  given,  as  was  supposed,  to  facilitate  the 
execution  of  some  plan  formed  by  the  French  statesmen 
against  the  independence  of  Scotland.  As  there  existed  no 
motive  for  such  a  crime,  and  no  proof  that  it  had  taken 
place,  and  as  the  bishop  of  Orkney,  a  friend  of  the  queen- 
regent,  was  one  of  the  persons  who  died,  the  suspicion  ap- 
pears on  the  whole  to  have  been  unjust,  and  to  have  had 
no  other  foundation  than  the  popular  desire  to  assign  ex- 
traordinary causes  for  uncommon  events.  But  it  was  in 
the  meantime  highly  calculated  to  place  the  queen-regent 
in  a  disadvantageous  point  of  view  to  a  great  part  of  the 
subjects  of  Scotland. 

Mary  of  Guise's  government  continued  to  be  still  further 
embarrassed  by  the  zeal  with  which  her  brothers  of  Lorraine 
continued  to  press  in  the  most  urgent  manner  the  adoption 
of  violent  measures  against  the  Protestants.  In  compliance 
with  instructions  from  France,  the  queen,  forgetful  of  the 
violent  scene  with  Chalmers  of  Gadgirth,  again  summoned 
the  Protestant  preachers  to  appear  before  a  court  of  justice 
to  be  held  at  Stirling  on  the  10th  May,  1559.  Again  the 
zeal  of  the  congregation  convoked  a  species  of  insurrec- 
tionary army  to  protect  their  ministers,  which  assembled 
at  Perth,  then  animated  by  the  preachings  of  John  Knox. 
The  queen-regent  foresaw  the  danger  which  impended,  and 
a  second  time  appeared  to  retreat  from  her  purpose,  and 
engaged  to  put  a  stop  to  the  prosecution  of  the  ministers. 

Through  the  whole  eventful  scene  the  subtlety  of  the 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  427 

queen-dowager  made  it  manifest  that  she  adopted  and  acted 
upon  the  fatal  maxim  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  no  faith 
was  to  be  kept  with  heretics.  The  Protestants  had  no  sooner 
dispersed  their  levies  than  the  queen  caused  the  actions 
against  their  preachers  to  be  anew  insisted  on;  and  upon 
the  non-appearance  of  the  parties  cited,  sentence  of  outlawry 
was  pronounced  against  them. 

The  Protestants  were  incensed  by  this  duplicity  of  the 
queen;  and  after  a  vehement  discourse  by  John  Knox 
against  the  idolatry  of  the  popish  worship,  and  a  casual 
brawl  which  followed  between  an  impudent  priest  and  a 
petulant  boy,  the  minds  of  the  auditors  were  so  much  in- 
flamed that  they  destroyed,  first  the  church  in  which  the 
sermon  had  been  preached,  and  then  the  other  churches  and 
monasteries  of  Perth,  breaking  to  fragments  the  ornaments 
and  images,  and  pillaging  the  supplies  of  provisions  which 
the  monks  had  provided  in  great  quantity. 

The  queen  in  the  meantime  had  drawn  together  her 
French  soldiery,  and,  still  more  deeply  irritated  by  the  late 
proceedings  of  the  multitude,  prepared  to  march  upon  Stir- 
ling, and  from  thence  to  Perth,  before  the  lords  of  the  con- 
gregation could  assemble  their  vassals.  But  she  had  to  deal 
with  prudent  and  active  men,  who  were  not  willing  a  second 
time  to  be  cheated  into  terms  which  might  be  kept  or  broken 
at  the  regent's  pleasure.  They  assembled  their  forces  so 
speedily  that  they  could  with  confidence  face  Mary  of  Guise 
and  her  army,  though  above  seven  thousand  strong.  Still 
the  principal  Protestant  nobles  thought  it  best  to  come  to  an 
agreement  with  the  queen-regent,  rather  than  hurry  the 
nation  into  a  civil  war.  They  agreed  to  admit  Mary  of 
Guise  into  Perth,  on  condition  that  her  French  troops  should 
not  approach  within  three  miles  of  the  city;  that  no  one 
should  be  prosecuted  on  account  of  the  recent  disturbances ; 
and  that  all  matters  hi  debate  between  the  government  and 
the  lords  of  the  congregation  should  be  left  to  the  consider- 
ation of  parliament.  No  sooner,  however,  had  this  treaty 
been  adjusted  than  the  queen  broke  its  conditions,  by  dis- 


428  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

placing  the  magistrates  of  Perth,  and  garrisoning  the  town 
with  six  hundred  men.  She  endeavored  to  palliate  this 
breach  of  faith  by  alleging  that  these  troops  did  not  con- 
sist of  native  Frenchmen,  but  of  Scotsmen  under  French 
pay.  Far  from  receiving  this  evasion  as  a  good  argument, 
the  Earl  of  Argyle  and  Lord  James  Stewart  retired  to  Saint 
Andrew's,  and  were  there  met  by  the  Earl  of  Monteith,  the 
Laird  of  Tulliebardine,  and  other  professors  of  their  relig- 
ion. Although  in  an  archi episcopal  see,  and  threatened  by 
the  primate,  that,  if  he  ventured  to  ascend  his  pulpit,  he 
should  be  saluted  with  a  shower  of  musket-balls,  John  Knox 
boldly  preached  before  the  congregation,  and  animated  their 
resolution  of  defending  their  freedom  of  conscience.  As  it 
appeared  plain  that  the  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Perth 
would  once  more  put  the  lords  of  the  congregation  in  arms, 
the  queen  on  her  part  endeavored  to  seize  an  advantage  by 
superior  alacrity.  She  was  again  disappointed,  although 
she  early  put  her  troops,  now  amounting  to  about  three 
thousand  men  in  the  pay  of  France,  into  motion  against 
Saint  Andrew's,  whither  the  principal  reformers  had  re- 
treated. 

The  lords  of  the  congregation  boldly  determined  to  meet 
the  queen-mother  in  the  field ;  and  though  they  set  out  from 
St.  Andrew's  with  only  one  hundred  horse,  yet  ere  they  had 
marched  ten  miles  they  were  joined  by  such  numbers  as 
enabled  them  to  remonstrate  with  the  queen,  rather  than 
to  petition  for  indemnity.  Mary  of  Guise  again  resorted  to 
the  duplicity  with  which  she  was  but  too  familiar.  She 
obtained  a  pacification,  but  it  was  only  on  the  condition  that 
she  should  transport  her  French  soldiery  to  the  southern 
side  of  the  Firth ;  and  she  agreed  to  send  commissioners  to 
St.  Andrew's  to  settle  on  conditions  of  peace.  The  French- 
men were  accordingly  withdrawn  for  the  time;  but,  with 
her  usual  insincerity,  the  queen  altogether  neglected  to  send 
the  commissioners,  or  take  any  steps  for  the  establishment 
of  a  solid  composition. 

The  consequences  were,  that  the  congregation  resumed 


HISTORY    OF    SCOTLAND  429 

arms  a  third  time,  and  forcibly  occupied  Perth.  From 
thence  they  advanced  in  triumph  to  the  capital,  the  peo- 
ple, particularly  the  citizens  of  the  burghs  which  they  oc- 
cupied, eagerly  seconding  them  in  the  work  of  reformation ; 
especially  in  the  destruction  of  monasteries  and  the  defacing 
the  churches,  by  destroying  what  they  considered  the  pecul- 
iar objects  of  Roman  Catholic  worship.  The  queen  gave 
way  to  the  torrent,  and  retreated  to  D  unbar,  to  await  till 
want  of  money  and  of  provisions  should  oblige  the  lords  of 
the  congregation  to  disperse  their  forces. 

This  period  was  not  long  in  arriving.  The  troops  of 
these  barons  consisted  entirely  of  their  vassals,  serving  at 
their  own  expense.  "When  the  provisions  they  brought  with 
them  to  the  camp  (which  never  at  the  utmost  exceeded  food 
for  the  space  of  forty  days)  were  expended,  they  had  no 
means  of  keeping  the  field,  and  considered  the  campaign 
as  ended.  The  burghers  had  their  callings  to  pursue,  and, 
however  zealous  for  religion,  were  under  the  necessity  of  re- 
turning to  their  own  residences  when  days  and  weeks  began 
to  elapse.  These  causes  so  soon  diminished  the  army  of  the 
congregation,  that  the  queen-regent,  advancing  with  her 
compact  body  of  mercenary  troops,  might  have  taken  Edin- 
burgh by  storm,  had  it  not  been  for  a  third  treaty,  patched 
up  indeed,  and  acceptable  to  neither  party,  but  which  each 
was  willing  to  receive  for  a  time,  rather  than  precipitate 
the  final  struggle.  The  articles  of  convention  were,  that 
the  lords  of  the  congregation  should  evacuate  Edinburgh,  to 
which  the  queen-regent  should  return,  but  that  she  should 
not  introduce  a  French  garrison  there.  The  Protestants 
agreed  to  abstain  from  future  violation  of  religious  houses ; 
while  the  queen  consented  to  authorize  the  free  exercise  of 
the  Protestant  religion  all  over  the  kingdom,  and  to  allow 
that  in  Edinburgh  no  other  should  be  openly  professed. 
These  terms  were  reluctantly  assented  to  on  both  sides. 
The  Protestants  were  desirous  that  the  French  troops,  the 
principal  support  of  the  queen-regent's  power,  should  be 
removed  out  of  the  kingdom ;  while  Mary  of  Guise,  on  the 


430  HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND 

other  hand,  was  secretly  determined  to  augment  their  num- 
ber, and  place  them  in  a  commanding  position. 

She  was  the  rather  determined  on  following  the  violent 
policy  suggasted  by  the  brothers  of  Guise,  because  the  death 
of  Henry  II.  and  the  accession  of  Francis  and  Mary  to  the 
throne  had  rendered  the  queen's  uncles  all-powerful  at  the 
court  of  France. 

A  thousand  additional  soldiers  having  arrived  from 
France,  the  queen-regent,  in  conformity  with  the  policy 
which  she  had  adopted,  employed  them  in  fortifying  as 
a  place  of  arms  the  seaport  of  Leith.  The  lords  of  the 
congregation  remonstrated  against  this  measure;  but  their 
interference  was  not  attended  to.  On  the  contrary,  the 
queen-regent,  influenced  by  the  dangerous  counsel  of  her 
brothers,  the  princes  of  Lorraine,  shut  herself  up  in  the 
newly- fortified  town,  and  haughtily  disputed  the  right  of 
the  nobility  to  challenge  her  prerogative  to  establish  her 
residence  where  she  would,  and  to  secure  it  by  military 
defences  when  she  thought  proper. 

The  civil  rights  of  the  Scottish  nation,  as  well  as  their 
religious  liberties,  were  now  involved  in  the  debate;  and 
the  lords  of  the  congregation  were  joined  by  the  Duke  of 
Chatelherault,  and  other  noblemen  who  continued  Catholics. 
Both  parties,  having  convoked  an  assembly  as  numerous  and 
powerful  as  a  Scottish  parliament,  united  in  the  decisive  step 
of  passing  an  act  by  which,  under  deep  professions  of  duty 
to  the  king  and  queen,  they  solemnly  deprived  the  queen- 
regent  of  her  office,  as  having  been  exercised  inconsistently 
with  the  liberties,  and  contrary  to  the  laws,  of  the  kingdom. 

Among  the  nobles  who  thus  lifted  the  banner  of  defiance 
against  the  highest  established  authority  of  the  kingdom, 
the  chief  was  Lord  James  Stewart,  called  at  this  time  the 
prior  of  St.  Andrew's,  a  natural  son  of  King  James  V.,  and 
a  brother,  consequently,  of  the  reigning  queen.  If  it  had  so 
chanced  that  this  eminent  person  had  possessed  a  legitimate 
title  to  the  crown  of  Scotland,  it  would  probably  have  been 
worn  by  him  with  much  splendor.  As  it  was,  he  was  thrown 


HISTORY    OF   SCOTLAND  431 

into  circumstances  in  which,  as  we  shall  see,  high  ambition, 
encouraged  by  tempting  opportunity,  proved  too  strong  for 
the  ties  of  gratitude  and  family  affection,  and  ultimately 
brought  a  man  of  great  talents  and  many  virtues  to  an 
early  and  a  bloody  grave.  His  strong  mind  had  early  re- 
ceived with  conviction  the  reformed  doctrines,  and  he  was 
distinguished  among  the  Protestant  lords  by  his  zeal,  sagac- 
ity, and  courage;  so  that  though  the  Earl  of  Arran  (Duke 
of  Chatelherault,  and  formerly  regent),  had  again  returned 
to  the  side  of  the  lords  of  the  congregation,  and  was  compli- 
mented with  the  title  of  chief  of  their  league,  yet  the  general 
confidence  of  the  party  was  reposed  in  the  wisdom,  courage, 
and  integrity  of  the  prior  of  St.  Andrew's.  Argyle,  Glen- 
cairn,  and  others,  the  associates  of  this  distinguished  person, 
were,  like  himself,  men  of  courage  and  sagacity,  and  full  of 
that  species  of  enthusiasm  which  is  inspired  by  an  enlarged 
sphere  of  thought  and  action,  and  by  the  sense  of  having 
thrown  off  the  fetters  of  ecclesiastical  bondage. 


END   OP  VOLUME   ONE 


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